Sir Lucian Grainge continues to extend his lead as one of the most powerful men in music and his company, Universal Music Group continues to score huge profits in the music industry. Grange is calling 2021 a historic year for Universal Music Group after a series of rights and catalogue acquisitions and top music releases last year. The company released its 2021 financial findings in March and he said, “2021 was yet another historic year for UMG. We helped our artists achieve extraordinary success – including 8 of the IFPI’s top 10 global artists of the year.”
IFPI global music report states that the global music industry made USD$25.9 billion last year with the three major labels clocking $4 billion more than they made the previous year (2020).
Grange credited UMG’s expansion in other entertainment activities for the remarkable year.
“In addition to strong performance in streaming, we drove new areas of opportunity for our artists – ranging from merchandise to brand management, sponsorship, e-commerce, and film & television. And we expanded our partner portfolio into emerging growth areas such as health and fitness, Web3 and social video,” he said.
As Universal Music claims the bigger market share, Grange predicted further growth in the industry.
“We see the industry continuing to grow and – with our unique experience, our deep understanding of the business and the vast artist relationships and global creative networks – we expect to further strengthen our position as the industry leader as we continue to break new artists and build on our world-class catalogue.”
Boyd Muir, EVP, CFO and President of Operations for UMG said,
“We are generating robust Free cash flow even as we continue to opportunistically and selectively invest in artists and catalogues that will be additive to the long-term health of our business”, “Our core business is well positioned for a strong 2022, which aligns with the plan we have set to achieve our previously announced mid-term targets.”
The report showed that, fourth quarter revenue for 2021 was €2,520 million, an increase of 19.0% year-over-year. UMG’s Recorded Music, Music Publishing and Merchandising and Other segments all had strong, double-digit revenue growth.
For the year UMG’s revenues were €8,504 million which is an increase of 14.4% compared to 2020.
