BMG Reports 11.6% H1 2023 Growth As Revenue Tops $450M

BMG achieved an 11.59 percent year-over-year revenue boost during 2023’s opening half, generating €414 million (currently $452.33 million) during the six-month stretch, according to a new earnings report from its Bertelsmann parent.

By category, roughly 62 percent of the revenue total derived from publishing, per a supplemental H1 2023 resource put out by BMG itself, against 34 percent for recordings and the remaining four percent for “broader rights.”

Meanwhile, 63 percent of overall H1 2023 income is said to have come from digital – both streaming and permanent downloads, that is – referring specifically to 72 percent for the recorded side and 63 percent for the comparatively high-earning publishing side.

Shifting to operating EBITDA, BMG attached €90 million ($98.33 million) to the category for H1 2023, up about 23.29 percent from H1 2022’s €73 million ($79.76 million). Additionally, the Berlin-headquartered music company had 1,114 team members as of June 30th (an increase of three from 2022’s conclusion) and saw an 80 percent YoY spike in the number of YouTube videos claimed, the breakdown indicates.

Addressing his company’s H1 2023 showing, Thomas Coesfeld, who’s served as BMG’s CEO since July, described the results as “a strong performance in the face of an increasingly tough market.”

“We achieved double-digit growth in both revenues and EBITDA,” continued the BMG head. “We struck 15 acquisition deals with artists and writers including The Hollies, Paul Simon and SNAP! And we scored significant success with clients including Kylie Minogue, Rita Ora, Jason Aldean, Mura Masa, Jelly Roll, Lewis Capaldi and Godsmack.

“Against the background of a soft advertising market, a maturing subscription streaming business and a physical music market impacted by inflation-driven cost increases, this is a very positive result.

“With a continuing strong performance from our catalogue and a dynamic release slate including new material from Kylie Minogue and Jason Aldean, we are cautiously optimistic for the year-end.

“BMG has successfully carved out a distinctive position for itself as the most service-driven and artist-friendly music company. We plan a series of measures to further enhance that USP [unique selling proposition],” concluded the former BMG CFO.

Earlier this month, BMG announced an expanded publishing deal with The Chemical Brothers, who are set to release a 10th studio album, For That Beautiful Feeling, on September 8th.

Separately, August has also delivered Q2 earnings reports from Sony Music Entertainment (almost 17 percent YoY revenue growth), Warner Music Group (a nine percent YoY income improvement), Hybe (up about 21 percent YoY), and SM Entertainment (up 54 percent YoY).