Warner Music Group Posts Biggest Revenues In Over 14 Years

The above figures contain both Warner’s recorded music and music publishing divisions

Warner Music Group has just posted $917M in revenues for the three months ending June 30, according to Music Business Worldwide.

That represented the company’s biggest fiscal Q3 since before WMG was acquired by a group of investors led by Edgar Bronfman Jr for $2.6B in late 2003.

Not only that: it was a whopping 41% up on the equivalent quarter in 2012 – Warner’s first full Q3 after Len Blavatnik’s Access Industries bought the firm for $3.3B in 2011.

What’s more, this performance was actually slightly dragged down by currency rates: WMG revenues grew 13.1% year-on-year, or 15.5% at constant currency.

Total digital revenues were up 30% to $496M – claiming 54.1% of overall sales.

“Our momentum continues with our eighth consecutive quarter of revenue growth – the last seven of which were up double digits,” said Steve Cooper, Warner Music Group’s CEO.

“Our artists and songwriters are creating great music and our team is outperforming in a growing industry.”

The reason for Warner’s growth in its Q3 was, predictably enough, streaming

The likes of Spotify generated $360m in  quarterly recorded music revenues, up 58.6% year-on-year.