Universal Music Group Reports Strong Subscription Streaming Revenues in 2024

Universal Music Group (UMG) has released its latest fiscal year results for 2024, revealing significant achievements. The company’s recorded music subscription revenues reached EUR €4.624 billion for the year, marking a substantial increase of 9.1% year-over-year (YoY).

This translates to approximately USD $5.00 billion, based on average exchange rates for the year as reported by IRS data.

During the fourth quarter of 2024, which concluded at the end of December, UMG’s subscription streaming revenues from recorded music increased by 9.0% YoY, totaling EUR €1.227 billion (USD $1.33 billion).

However, there was less favorable news from the ad-funded streaming sector.

UMG’s recorded music revenue from ad-supported streaming fell by 4.1% YoY in Q4, reaching €375 million ($408 million).

For the entire year of 2024, revenue from ad-supported recorded music remained relatively flat, showing only a slight increase of 0.1% YoY at €1.414 billion ($1.53 billion).

To put these figures into perspective, subscription streaming accounted for a significant portion of UMG’s overall recorded music streaming revenues in 2024, making up more than three-quarters, which totals EUR €6.038 billion (USD $6.53 billion).

This contrasts sharply with ad-funded streaming, which contributed only about one-quarter (23%) of the total.

Across all revenue streams, UMG’s overall revenues for FY 2024, which includes recorded music and music publishing, amounted to EUR €11.834 billion (USD $12.81 billion), reflecting a growth of 7.6% YoY.

The company’s adjusted EBITDA reached €2.661 billion ($2.88 billion), representing a notable increase of 13.8% YoY.

In terms of recorded music, UMG’s revenues for the entire year rose by 6.4% YoY, reaching €8.901 billion ($9.63 billion). Additionally, the firm’s music publishing revenues saw an increase, totaling €2.121 billion ($2.30 billion), up 9.0% YoY.

Sir Lucian Grainge, Chairman and CEO of UMG, commented on the year, stating, “2024 was a year distinguished by the exceptional performance of our artists and songwriters and significant progress on our strategic initiatives.”

He also emphasized UMG’s commitment to advancing its artist-centric strategy and the next phase of streaming, referred to as ‘Streaming 2.0’. The company continues to focus on creating value for artists and shareholders, including responsibly navigating developments in AI.

Notable artists contributing to UMG’s success in FY 2024 included Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish, Sabrina Carpenter, Morgan Wallen, and Chappell Roan.

Q4 Performance Overview

In the last quarter of 2024, UMG's total revenue across all divisions reached EUR €3.439 billion (USD $3.74 billion), which was a 7.9% YoY increase.

UMG reported that this quarterly revenue figure included a one-time EUR €20 million catch-up payment from a digital service provider (DSP) as well as EUR €40 million from legal settlements.

Excluding these payments, the company’s overall revenue growth for Q4 would have still shown a healthy increase of 6.1% YoY when adjusted for constant currency.

UMG’s recorded music revenue specifically in Q4 was up by 6.8% YoY, reaching EUR €2.566 billion (USD $2.79 billion).

The growth in recorded music revenue benefited from the aforementioned one-time payments. Without these, the growth rate would have been approximately 4.6% YoY.

Top-selling global artists for UMG in Q4 included Taylor Swift, Sabrina Carpenter, Billie Eilish, Chappell Roan, and the soundtrack to Wicked.

Additionally, UMG’s music publishing division, Universal Music Publishing Group, reported revenues of €613 million ($666 million) in Q4, marking a solid increase of 7.0% YoY. Excluding legal settlements, the growth was around 5.6% YoY, driven by growth in subscription and streaming revenues.

In terms of merchandise and other revenue streams, UMG reported €264 million ($287 million) for Q4 2024, which was an impressive increase of 23.4% YoY, fueled by growth in direct-to-consumer merchandise sales and touring.music, revenue, streaming