UMG Results Don’t Suck As Bad As Rivals Did

Universal Music Group 2008 revenues declined 4.5% despite increases in music publishing, artist services and merchandising following the 2007 acquisitions of BMG Music Publishing and Sanctuary.

• Recorded music sales dropped  8.8%
• Digital sales grew 31% but no figures were offered as to what % of total sales digital represented
• UMG's EBITA rose 9.9% compared to 2007 reflecting the consolidation of BMG Music Publishing and higher license income including copyright settlements.

Because UMG's earnings are contained within the much larger report of parent Vivendi, the exact details of how the music group acheived its results are sketchy.  But overall, Universal's 4.5% decline compares to an 11% slip at WMG and a 22% drop at Sony. EMI owners Terra Firma took a whopping $1.6B write off as part of their latest financial report.