Universal Music sets record revenue figures in 2016

Universal Music Group (UMG) has posted record revenues across recorded music, publishing and its other activities. Total revenues hit US$5.83 billion in 2016, up 3.1% (US$5.65 billion) from 2015.

Recorded music revenues at UMG were up 1.8% on the previous year, amassing an extra US$83 million on 2015’s revenue total with a final figure of US$4.63 billion.

For the first time in history, physical music sales were beaten by streaming (inclusive of ad-funded and subscription options) at the company. That’s no surprise considering the likes of Spotify and Apple music contributed US$1.64 billion towards total recorded music revenues.

That number is up a hefty 55.5% on 2015, which equates to roughly US$137 million a month and US$4.5 million worth of streaming revenue each day.

While physical sales have been steadily declining at UMG over the past few years, 2016 marked the most drastic drop in physical sales figures, falling from US$156 billion in 2015 to US$1.36 billion, a decline of 13.1%.

Downloads revenue (including ringtones) plummeted 26.1% on the previous year’s figure of US$1.13 billion, posting a mere US$835 million in 2016.

As a result of revenue boosts and costs savings, however, operational income at UMG was up 9.8% in in 2016, reaching US$760 million in total.

The label’s biggest selling artists of 2016 were Drake, Justin Bieber, Rihanna, Ariana Grande and The Rolling Stones. Drake’s One Dance was the top single of 2016 in TMN’s Year End Singles Report, with six of the Top 20 singles of year belonging to UMG artists.

Universal Music Group was acquired by Vivendi in February 2006. Since then, the label has experienced healthy growth in the majority of its sectors.

Universal’s publishing arm, UMPG, also recorded significant growth in 2016. Publishing revenues reached US$876 million, a jump of 4.8% on 2015 and 6.7% at constant currency rates.

Brought in as CEO of its publishing division two years ago, Jody Gerson has yielded a revenue increase of 17.7% since taking over the position.