UNIVERSAL MUSIC GROUP SEES ITS HIGHEST REVENUE IN A DECADE
Unlike the treacherous, fiscal situations of organizations like Soundcloud, record label Universal Music Group is currently experiencing one of the most profitable periods in their history. According to Music Business Worldwideand Thump, the company earned a total of $5.6 billion in 2015 alone! This number comes as a more than 12% increase from the preceding year.
A subsidiary of parent company Vivendi, UMG is playing a crucial role in the collective growth of the business. Despite the decline in number of physical purchases and paid downloads, streaming revenue earned via services like Spotify and Soundcloud more than made up for losses. This income reached $1.051 billion in 2015, up over 50% from the previous year. In total, the company’s revenue rose 12.1%.
Two specific areas where the company saw significant growth were in the associated Universal Music Publishing Group and a “merchandising and other” sector. The rose 12.4% and 19.1% respectively, totaling a whopping $1.14 billion in revenue.
As their dominion over the streaming service circuit continues to stretch, it’s unlikely the company will see a shortage of progress any time soon.