BMG Revenue Up 10% in 2021
variety.comJem Aswad Senior Music EditorBertelsmann has announced its annual results, including details of its music division’s financial performance in 2021.BMG’s figures show its strongest performance yet, based on its investment in acquiring music catalogues and the performance of its recordings business, where vinyl sales more than doubled.Major catalogs acquired by the company in 2021 include Tina Turner, Mötley Crüe and ZZ Top, while key signings and re-signings included 5 Seconds of Summer, Bryan Adams and Louis Tomlinson in records and D’Mile, Diane Warren, the Juice WRLD estate and Mick Jagger and Keith Richards in publishing.In 2021, overall revenues grew 10.1% to €663 million (approximately $748 million) while profit measure EBITDA increased by 5.4% to €144m.
According to the announcement, catalog recordings and production music both grew revenue by a quarter, while publishing revenues from streaming grew by a fifth.
The impact of the lockdown diminished publishing performance revenues, but streaming revenues continued to grow strongly through the pandemic.
Publishing remains the business’ foundation, accounting for 62% of revenue, but recordings now account for 38% of sales. Vinyl sales grew more than 100% over 2020 and overall physical sales grew by 44%.In a note to the BMG team, CEO Hartwig Masuch, said, “Acquisitions remain a real focus, and the extraordinary support of Bertelsmann means no deal is out of our reach.
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