Universal Music Group reported its fiscal results for the third quarter of 2021, which were the company’s first earnings report since its spinoff from Vivendi last month. Revenue during Q3 grew by 16.1 percent to approximately $2.49 billion. In its recorded music unit alone, revenue was up 15.5 percent vs. a year ago, with subscription/streaming revenue seeing a 14 percent increase compared to Q3 2020. Physical music revenue was up 8.9 percent, attributed to continued demand for vinyl records.
UMG’s music publishing division brought in approximately $421 million in Q3, up 19.4 percent compared to last year’s third quarter. The top selling artists in Q3 were Billie Eilish, Drake, BTS, Olivia Rodrigo and Japanese pop group King & Prince.
In a statement, UMG Chairman/CEO Sir Lucian Grange said, “Our operational and financial performance this quarter — our first as an independent, publicly traded company — demonstrates both why UMG is the world’s most successful music company, as well as how our commitment to artists’ career development and fostering innovation promotes growth across the music ecosystem.”
“Our results this quarter demonstrate the continued strength of our artist roster and catalog, the increasingly diversified revenue streams of our business, and our ability to deliver growth for our shareholders,” said Boyd Muir, UMG CFO/President of Operations.
