UMG Earning Nearly $10M A Day From Streaming

By FYI Staff

Vivendi SA said Monday that its first-quarter revenue rose, helped by the solid growth of its subsidiary Universal Music Group’s income from higher subscription and streaming revenues.

Universal Music Group’s recorded music operation turned over US$1.37B in the first three months of 2019 – up 19.2% year-on-year at constant currency.

Higher subscription and streaming revenues were up +28.1%,  and strong physical sales in the first quarter of 2019 were up 20.8%, which more than offset the continued decline in other digital sales (mainly downloads) (-18.2%).

Recorded music best sellers for the first quarter of 2019 included new releases from Ariana Grande, the Japanese band back number and Billie Eilish, as well as continued sales of the soundtrack from A Star Is Born and multiple albums from Queen.

As reported earlier this morning in trade publication Music Business Worldwide (MBW), Universal’s labels are now amassing approximately US$9.3M per day from the likes of Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music and YouTube.

UMG songs occupied the No. 1 spot on both the Spotify U.S. and Global Weekly Charts for every week of the first quarter of 2019. In addition, UMG had the No.1 song on the Billboard Hot 100 for 12 out of 13 weeks of the first quarter of 2019.

During the first quarter of 2019, UMG acquired Ingrooves Music Group, an innovative music distribution and marketing company which complements UMG’s existing relationships with the global independent music community.

Music publishing revenues grew by 4.7% at constant currency and perimeter, also driven by increased subscription and streaming revenues.

Merchandising and other revenues were up 72.7% at constant currency and perimeter, thanks to increased touring activity and D2C (Direct to Consumer) revenues.

-- Sources: Vivendi, Business Wire, MarketReport, MBW