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UMG posts more big numbers in streaming revenue for H1 2017

Universal Music Group saw streaming grow to a larger portion of its second-quarter results. The major label’s EBITDA for the first half of 2017 rose 61.6% to €286 million over the year-ago period. Total revenue jumped 15.2% to €2.67 billion euros ($2.98 billion).

Streaming played a key factor in the positive performance, accounting for 45% of UMG’s revenue. That’s up from a 35.64% share in the year prior. Digital sales for the half reached nearly €1.32 billion, with €962 million of that coming from streaming and subscriptions.

UMG had several of the top tracks of the year represented in its catalog, including mega-hit “Despacito” by Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee. The label also closed a long-anticipated deal with Spotify that will allow its artists to restrict their new music temporarily to paid listeners only.

Those figures continue the trend of streaming revenue outpacing physical format revenue that UMG posted in its 2016 results. It’s also pointing toward another banner year for streaming as a source of revenue and growth for the music industry. Based on the first half, UMG alone is on track to reach streaming revenue of about $2.2 billion by the year’s end; in 2016, all of streaming revenue worldwide was $3.9 billion.

Anna Washenko

One Comment

  1. The real problem I have with this study is the funding came from Sound Exchange which has caused critics to question the motivation of the report. I am talking about rethinking the entire experience with the listener first in mind pairing the best of what radio has to offer with the new technologies available. It is online service has paltry streaming numbers because the user experience sucks and the content can be heard elsewhere.

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