Universal Music Group enjoyed a stonking 2017 according to chairman and CEO Lucian Grainge’s year-end memo to staff.
“The dramatic worldwide increase in streaming has been the single most important catalyst in returning UMG – and the music industry at large – to growth,” wrote Grainge.
“In part, that’s why we posted our best financial performance in 15 years by many metrics… UMG’s artists accomplished something never done before, something unimaginable only a year ago: they logged nearly a quarter of a trillion streams in 2017. As a result, streaming and subscription revenue represented 46% – almost half – of our recorded music revenue for the first nine months. And that figure is exactly double what it was just two years ago.”
Also interesting: Grainge celebrating “an increasingly competitive and dynamic market for music among the biggest tech platforms on earth” the day after UMG signed its Facebook licensing deal, while also warning that “we can’t let our future rest in the hands of a few giant distributors”.
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