UMG Sees Nearly $3B in Revenue in Q2

Universal Music Group revealed its numbers for Q3 2023 during an earnings call this week, touting growth in multiple areas contributed primarily to "growth in global subscribers as well as the impact of price increases at certain platforms."

Break it down: UMG generated revenues of $2.93 billion during the quarter across all divisions and saw overall recorded music revenues of $2.26 billion in Q2, up 10.9% year over year and 8.8% on a constant currency basis. Subscription streaming revenues grew 10.6% year over year or 13% year over year at constant currency to $1.16 billion. Additionally, UMG's ad-supported recorded music streaming revenue increased 5.3% year over year to $389.75 million in Q2.

UMG got some major help this quarter from top sellers King & Prince, Morgan Wallen, SEVENTEEN, Taylor Swift, and Stray Kids. UMG Chairman and CEO Sir Lucian Grainge credited "a strong performance by Taylor Swift" specifically for contributing to 12.1% growth in the company's "Merchandising and Other" revenue segment. 

What they're saying: Grainge spent time discussing UMG's goal to the streaming business towards an "artist-centric" model, stressing that such a model would focus on paying "real" artists.

"As an artist-centric company, we’re not only proud of our continued strong performance, but we’re also particularly excited that it enables us to accelerate our strategy to promote a healthier streaming business—one that rewards real artists and real music—and drive growth opportunities for the broader music ecosystem," he said. "Our growth came from all segments of the business."