Universal Music Group’s revenues rose 12.7% in Q1 2017 to €1.284 billion, up from €1.119bn year-on-year.
The major’s recorded music revenues for the period increased 12.2% to €1.016bn, up from €890 million in the same quarter last year. The growth was largely attributed to strong growth in subscription and streaming revenues, which rocketed 49%.
The decline of downloads continued, however, with the format suffering a 20% slump. Physical revenues also dipped 5.6% to €226m.
Top selling artists during the period include The Weeknd, Drake, the La La Land sound track, the Fifty Shades Darker Soundtrack and the Moana soundtrack.
Interestingly, when breaking down recorded music revenues by territory, income was up from 43% to 48% in North America and 3% to 4% in Latin America, but was down or flat everywhere else. Revenues fell from 37% to 32% in Europe, remained flat in Asia and dropped 4% to 3% in the rest of the world.
The company also highlighted upcoming releases from The Beatles, Benjamin Biolay, Lorde, Lana Del Rey, Feist, Imagine Dragons, Shania Twain, Katy Perry, Pearljam and Chris Stapleton as potential top sellers.
Meanwhile, publishing revenues grew 14% to €220m from €180m, thanks to growth in the company’s digital and sync business.
Elsewhere, merchandising and other revenues saw an increase of 13.3% from €47m to €54m, while UMG’s Q1 earnings report also revealed a 33.1% spike in income from operations. This was due mostly to overall revenue growth.
