By Jem Aswad
Executive Editor, Music
Universal Music Group posted robust revenue of €2.901 billion — around $3.309 billion, an increase of 11.8% year-over-year, or 9.5% in constant currency — in its earnings report for the quarter ended on March 31, 2025, although streaming growth continues to level off and impact the company’s bottom line.
Top sellers included Kendrick Lamar, Sabrina Carpenter, Lady Gaga, the Weeknd and Japan group Mrs. Green Apple, while top sellers from 2024 included releases from Taylor Swift, Noah Kahan, Morgan Wallen, Ariana Grande and Olivia Rodrigo.
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While Universal’s recorded music’s subscription revenue grew 11.5% year-over-year, or 9.3% in constant currency, streaming revenue grew just 2.9% year-over-year, or 0.3% in constant currency.
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UMG chairman-CEO Lucian Grainge projected optimism during the earnings call, pointing to the company’s efforts in its so-called “Streaming 2.0” campaign and paraphrasing Universal publishing artist Bob Dylan in describing music’s resiliency as “shelter from the storm” in a volatile global economy. CFO Boyd Muir and EVP Michael Nash also spoke of the company’s efforts toward “superfans,” which involves focusing on the artist fans who spend substantial amount of money on their favorite performers’ merchandise and physical music products.
The company’s EBITDA for the quarter grew 23.1% year-over-year, or 21.6% in constant currency, to €603 million and EBITDA margin was 20.8%, compared to 18.9% in the first quarter of 2024. The announcement states that the margin improvement is a result of lower non-cash share-based compensation expenses of €58 million (around $66 million) during the first quarter of 2025, compared to €101 million during the first quarter of 2024. Excluding non-cash share-based compensation expenses, Adjusted EBITDA for the quarter was €661 million, up 11.8% year-over-year, or 10.0% in constant currency, driven by revenue growth.
Recorded music revenue for the first quarter of 2025 was €2.241 million (around $2.556 billion), up 12.7% year-over-year, or 10.3% in constant currency. Subscription revenue grew 11.5% year-over-year, or 9.3% in constant currency, primarily driven by the growth in global subscribers. Streaming revenue grew 2.9% year-over-year, or 0.3% in constant currency, as consumption continues to shift from better monetized video platforms to short-form platforms, which are not yet as well monetized, the announcement states.
Physical revenue increased by 17.6% year-over-year, or 15.4% in constant currency, driven by vinyl sales growth in the U.S. and Europe. Downloads and other digital revenue declined 13.0% year-over-year, or 14.9% in constant currency, as download sales continue their industry-wide decline.
License and other revenue increased 33.3% year-over-year, or 29.8% in constant currency, driven by particularly strong live income in certain markets, as well as by growth in synchronization income.
Music publishing revenue for the first quarter of 2025 was €555 million (around $633 million) up 11.9% year-over-year, or 9.5% in constant currency. Digital revenue grew 19.4% year-over-year, or 16.9% in constant currency, driven by continued growth in streaming and subscription revenue. Performance revenue was flat year-over-year, but declined 1.7% in constant currency, with a difficult comparison against higher society payments in the U.S. and stronger live activity in Europe in the prior year quarter. Synchronization revenue increased 3.2% year-over-year, and was flat in constant currency. Mechanical revenue grew by 4.0% on both a reported and constant currency basis.
Merchandising and other revenue in the first quarter of 2025 was €112 million, a decrease of 1.8% year-over-year, or 5.1% in constant currency, as timing-related declines in touring merchandise sales were partially offset by healthy growth in direct-to-consumer sales.
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