Universal Music Group N.V. (“UMG” or “the Company”) has announced its financial results for the fourth quarter and full year ended December 31, 2024.

Summary FY 2024 Results

-Revenue of €11,834 million increased 6.5% year-over-year, or 7.6% in constant currency, driven by growth across all segments.

-Recorded Music subscription revenue grew 8.2% year-over-year, or 9.1% in constant currency and streaming revenue declined 0.8% year-over-year, but grew 0.1% in constant currency.

-Adjusted EBITDA of €2,661 million increased 12.3% year-over-year, or 13.8% in constant currency, and Adjusted EBITDA margin expanded 1.2 percentage points to 22.5%.

-Net cash provided by operating activities before income tax paid of €2,104 million decreased 7.6% compared to €2,278 million in 2023.

-Subject to shareholder approval, final dividend proposal of €512 million, or €0.28 per share, which would bring total dividend for 2024 to €951 million, or €0.52 per share.

2024 Business Highlights

-Global artist success, including: 9 of the Top 10 on the IFPI Global Artist Chart; the two biggest artist breakthroughs in the world in Sabrina Carpenter and Chappell Roan; 6 of the Top 10 global artists on Spotify; and 6 of the Top 10 most-streamed songs globally on Apple Music.

-Introduction of Streaming 2.0: represents a new era of innovation, consumer segmentation, geographic expansion, greater consumer value and ARPU growth for subscription music.

-Progress on strategy to accelerate investment in high-growth music markets and local repertoire, including investments in: Mavin Global (Nigeria), RS Group (Thailand) and Outdustry (China/India), among others.

-Continued focus on growing artist and label-services business: Acquired the remaining share of [PIAS] two years after taking an initial stake in the company, announced an agreement to acquire Downtown Music Holdings and added a number of important artist and label partnerships around the world.

-Furthered Responsible AI initiatives: Strategic collaborations with KLAY Vision Inc., SoundLabs, and ProRata.ai, with additional ones in process; published the Principles for Music Creation with AI with Roland Corporation. Continued to drive innovation through responsible use of AI on the last Beatles track, “Now and Then”, and in the Spanish language adaptation of Brenda Lee’s iconic “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree”.

“2024 was a year distinguished by the exceptional performance of our artists and songwriters and significant progress on our strategic initiatives,” said Sir Lucian Grainge, UMG’s Chairman and CEO. “Our industry-leading investment in talent continued to produce spectacular results, both from global superstars, as well as developing artists from around the world. We continue to create value for both our artists and shareholders by advancing our artist-centric strategy, ushering the next evolution of streaming—’Streaming 2.0,’ and advancing a responsible and effective approach to AI.”

Boyd Muir, COO and CFO of UMG, said, “Our artist investment has translated into continued strong financial performance in 2024, with healthy growth on both the top and bottom line. We continue to strategically reinvest in the business, while returning cash to our shareholders through meaningful dividends, and are well positioned to meet the growth targets laid out at our recent Capital Markets Day.”

Recorded Music Q4 2024

Recorded Music revenue for the fourth quarter of 2024 was €2,566 million, up 6.0% compared to the fourth quarter of 2023, or 6.8% in constant currency. As detailed below, Q4 2024 Recorded Music revenue included the benefit of the DSP Catch-Up Income and Legal Settlements. Excluding these items, Recorded Music revenue grew 4.6% year-over-year in constant currency.

Subscription revenue grew 7.9% year-over-year, or 9.0% in constant currency. Excluding the DSP Catch-Up Income which impacted comparability, subscription revenue grew 7.2% in constant currency driven primarily by the growth in global subscribers. Streaming revenue declined 5.1% year-over-year, or 4.1% in constant currency, as consumption grows but continues to shift from better monetized video platforms to short-form platforms, which are not yet as well monetized. Physical revenue grew 2.5% year-over-year, or 3.4% in constant currency, driven primarily by strong releases in Japan, which more than offset a difficult comparison in the U.S. and Europe. Downloads and other digital revenue increased 37.5% year-over-year both as reported and in constant currency against an easy comparison. License and other revenue improved 12.7% year-over-year, or 12.4% in constant currency. Excluding Legal Settlements, License and other revenue was up 4.6% in constant currency driven by strength in neighboring rights, synchronization, touring and audio-visual production income, while the prior-year quarter included the timing related benefit of a new licensing deal which created a difficult comparison.

Music Publishing Q4 2024

Music Publishing revenue in the fourth quarter of 2024 was €613 million, up 6.4% year-over-year, or 7.0% in constant currency. As detailed below, 2024 Music Publishing revenue included the benefit of Legal Settlements. Excluding this item, revenue grew 5.6% year-over-year in constant currency, driven by continued growth in subscription and streaming revenue and improvements in performance revenue.

Merchandising and Other Q4 2024

Merchandising and Other revenue in the fourth quarter of 2024 was €264 million, up 22.8% year-over-year, or 23.4% in constant currency, driven by growth in direct-to-consumer and touring merchandise sales.