BMG Revenues Rise 4.8% In First Half of 2020

Even as the COVID-19 pandemic has had a tremendous negative impact on the live music business and on record stores around the world, BMG’s latest numbers show that revenues for the company increased by 4.8% during the first half of 2020, to $308 million.

Digital accounted for 83% of recordings revenue and 48% of music publishing revenue during the period.

Streaming of BMG’s recorded catalog was up 49% year-over-year, while overall recorded streaming was up 26%.

Key drivers of the results were a strong performance by the company’s music publishing business and surging streaming numbers for the company’s recording artists.

BMG CEO Hartwig Masuch said, “To deliver a record result in the midst of a pandemic is a remarkable achievement. It is a testament to our artist-centric business model, but also to our 926-strong team worldwide who went to extraordinary lengths to maintain service to our artist and songwriter clients.

“Our growth is almost entirely organic,” he added. “Despite the high levels of M&A in the wider music industry, we have not made a major acquisition since 2017. Our focus is on growing by delivering better, fairer, more efficient services to artists and songwriters. There is no doubt musicians are hurting through the pandemic, particularly with the loss of live business. That puts a particular responsibility on record labels and music publishers to help artists and songwriters maximize their earnings.”