It’s been a busy day for financial news from publicly traded companies.

This morning (April 29), South Korean entertainment giant HYBE, and Spotify, the world’s biggest subscription music streaming platform, announced their respective Q1 results.

Now, it’s the turn of Universal Music Group, the world’s largest music rights company.

The headline stat from UMG’s Q1 results (for the three months to end of March), filed on Tuesday (April 29): The company generated revenues of EUR €2.901 billion (USD $3.052bn) across all of its divisions (including recorded music, publishing and more).

That Q1 revenue figure was up 9.5% YoY at constant currency, driven, according to UMG, by solid growth in Recorded Music and Music Publishing.

Another big highlight from UMG’s Q1 results was the company’s subscription streaming revenues, which grew 9.3% YoY at constant currency to reach €1.252 billion ($1.317bn) in Q1.

“Our strong results – and our confidence about the future – reflect the execution of our strategic plan, including consistently developing and breaking the world’s most successful artists and songwriters by connecting them with billions of fans in new and innovative ways.”

Sir Lucian Grainge

Commenting on the company’s latest earnings announcement, UMG’s Chairman and CEO Sir Lucian Grainge, said: “Our strong results – and our confidence about the future – reflect the execution of our strategic plan, including consistently developing and breaking the world’s most successful artists and songwriters by connecting them with billions of fans in new and innovative ways.”

RECORDED MUSIC

Universal’s overall Recorded Music revenue for the first quarter of 2025 was €2.241 billion ($2.358bn), up 10.3% YoY at constant currency (see below).

Within the Recorded Music segment, UMG’s ‘Subscription and streaming revenues’ (including ad-supported and subscription streaming revenues) grew 7.2% YoY at constant currency to €1.605 billion ($1.688bn).

Breaking UMG’s recorded music streaming figure down further reveals that the company’s subscription streaming revenues specifically grew 9.3% YoY at constant currency to €1.252 billion ($1.317bn), primarily driven, according to UMG, “by the growth in global subscribers”.

Universal’s ad-supported recorded music streaming revenue, meanwhile, grew 0.3% YoY at constant currency to reach €353 million ($371.46m). According to UMG, this result reflected “consumption contin[uing] to shift from better monetized video platforms to short-form platforms, which are not yet as well monetized”.

Within Universal’s recorded music business, Physical revenue increased 15.4% YoY at constant currency to €300 million ($315.69m), driven by vinyl sales growth in the US and Europe.

License and other revenue increased 29.8% YoY at constant currency to €296 million ($311.48m), driven, according to UMG, by “particularly strong live income in certain markets, as well as by growth in synchronisation income”.

Top sellers for the quarter included releases from Kendrick Lamar, Sabrina Carpenter, Lady Gaga, The Weeknd and Mrs. GREEN APPLE.

MUSIC PUBLISHING

UMG’s Music Publishing division, Universal Music Publishing Group, generated revenues of €555 million ($584.02m) in Q1, up 9.5% YoY at constant currency.

Digital revenue grew 16.9% YoY at constant currency to €339 million ($356.72m), driven, according to UMG, “by continued growth in streaming and subscription revenue”.

Performance revenue declined 1.7% YoY at constant currency to €114 million ($119.96m). According to UMG, there was “difficult comparison against higher society payments in the US and stronger live activity in Europe in the prior year quarter”.

Synchronization revenue, meanwhile, was flat at constant currency, at €64 million ($67.34m). Mechanical revenue grew by 4% YoY at constant currency to reach €26 million ($27.35m).

Merchandising and Other

UMG’s Merchandising and Other revenue in the first quarter of 2025 reached €112 million ($117.85m) in Q1, a decrease of 5.1% YoY at constant currency.

According to UMG, “timing-related declines in touring merchandise sales were partially offset by healthy growth in direct-to-consumer sales”.

EBITDA ETC.

In Q1 2025, UMG’s EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, and depreciation) grew 21.6% YoY at constant currency to €603 million ($634.53m).

EBITDA margin was 20.8%, compared to 18.9% in the first quarter of 2024.

Adjusted EBITDA for Q1 was €661 million ($695.57m), up 10% YoY at constant currency.

Adjusted EBITDA margin remained consistent at 22.8% (see below).

Commenting on the results, Boyd Muir, COO and CFO of UMG, added: “2025 is off to a strong start, with multi-faceted revenue growth in recorded music and music publishing as well as healthy Adjusted EBITDA growth.

“Our focus on our key strategic initiatives positions us to achieve our mid-term financial objectives.”

All EUR-USD conversions made at the average rate of the relevant period according to the European Central BankMusic Business Worldwide