Universal Music Group‘s latest FY results are out.
Within UMG’s financial figures for the 2024 fiscal/calendar year lies this pearl: the company’s recorded music subscription revenues hit EUR €4.624 billion annually, up 9.1% YoY.
That represented the equivalent of USD $5.00 billion, according to average exchange rates for the year as per IRS data.
Meanwhile, Q4 2024 (the three months to end of December), UMG’s subscription streaming revenues from recorded music were up 9.0% YoY, to EUR €1.227 billion (USD $1.33bn).
There was less good news, however, from the world of ad-funded streaming.
UMG’s recorded music turnover from ad-funded streaming in Q4 fell 4.1% YoY, to €375 million ($408m).
For the full year of 2024 (Jan-December), UMG’s ad-funded revenues for recorded music were flat (+0.1% YoY) at €1.414 billion ($1.53bn).
(All YoY percentage growth figures in this report reflect reported constant currency.)
To put all of that into context: Subscription streaming made up over three-quarters (77%) of UMG’s total recorded music streaming revenues in 2024, which hit EUR €6.038 billion (USD $6.53bn).
Ad-funded streaming contributed less than one quarter (23%) of this total figure.
UMG’s overall revenues in FY 2024 (across recorded music, publishing, and more) stood at EUR €11.834 (USD $12.81bn), up 7.6% YoY.
The firm’s adjusted EBITDA hit €2.661 billion ($2.88bn), up 13.8% YoY.
UMG’s recorded music revenues in the 12 months to end of December 2024 grew 6.4% YoY to €8.901 billion ($9.63bn).
The firm’s music publishing revenues in the FY period hit €2.121 billion ($2.30bn), up 9.0% YoY.
Photo: Austin Hargrave
“We continue to create value for both our artists and shareholders by advancing our artist-centric strategy, ushering the next evolution of streaming — ‘Streaming 2.0,’ and advancing a responsible and effective approach to AI.”
Sir Lucian Grainge, UMG
“2024 was a year distinguished by the exceptional performance of our artists and songwriters and significant progress on our strategic initiatives,” said Sir Lucian Grainge, UMG’s Chairman and CEO.
“Our industry-leading investment in talent continued to produce spectacular results, both from global superstars, as well as developing artists from around the world.
“We continue to create value for both our artists and shareholders by advancing our artist-centric strategy, ushering the next evolution of streaming — ‘Streaming 2.0,’ and advancing a responsible and effective approach to AI.”
UMG said its biggest global recorded music sellers in FY 2024 included “multiple albums” from Taylor Swift, plus albums from Billie Eilish, Sabrina Carpenter, Morgan Wallen, and Chappell Roan.
See below for a more in-depth look at the Q4 numbers.
Q4 snapshot
In the last three months of 2024, UMG generated revenues of EUR€3.439 billion (USD $3.74bn) across all of its divisions (including recorded music, publishing and more). That revenue figure was up 7.9% YoY
According to its Q4 fiscal report, without a EUR €20 million ‘catch-up’ payment from a DSP, plus a further EUR€40 million in legal settlements banked in the quarter, UMG’s overall revenues in Q4 were up 6.1% YoY at constant currency.
UMG’s recorded music revenue in Q4 2024 was up 6.8% YoY to EUR€2.566 billion (USD $2.79 bn).
This recorded music figure benefited from the one-off EUR€20 million ‘catch-up’ payment from a DSP.
It also benefited from a EUR €32 million bump via two legal settlements in the quarter, related to: (i) the settlement of a copyright infringement lawsuit booked in Q4 2024, and (ii) a settlement associated with an exit in Q4 2024 by UMG from a JV partnership.
Without these legal settlements and the DSP ‘catch up’ payment in Q4, UMG said its recorded music revenues grew 4.6% YoYin the quarter.
Universal’s top global recorded music sellers in Q4 included Taylor Swift, Sabrina Carpenter, Billie Eilish, Chappell Roan, and Wicked: The Soundtrack.
Meanwhile, Universal’s music publishing division, Universal Music Publishing Group, generated revenues of €613 million ($666m) in Q4, up 7.0% YoY at constant currency (see above).
An €8 million sum from the legal settlements described above was attributed to UMG’s publishing revenue in the quarter.
Excluding this legal settlement money, said UMG, meant its publishing division’s revenue grew 5.6% YoY in the quarter, driven by “continued growth in subscription and streaming revenue and improvements in performance revenue”.
UMG’s ‘Merchandising and Other’ revenue in Q4 2024 was €264 million ($287m), up 23.4% YoY, driven by “growth in direct-to-consumer and touring merchandise sales”, according to the company.
Note: As mentioned, all FY EUR-USD conversions in this report have been made using average annual data from the IRS. All quarterly EUR-USD conversions have been made using a rate supplied to analysts and investors by UMG.Music Business Worldwide
