BERLIN: SEPTEMBER 1, 2020 – BMG, the integrated music publishing and records company, increased its revenues in the first half of 2020, despite the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the effective shutdown of both the live music business and record stores worldwide.
Figures released this morning by the company’s shareholder, international media, services and education company Bertelsmann show BMG, the world’s largest international music company outside the three “majors”, increased revenues by 4.8% in the first six months of 2020
It is BMG’s best first-half result since it was founded in 2008.
It came despite the forced closure of the company’s 19 offices worldwide due to the pandemic with its 926 strong team working remotely.
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 client successes during the period included:
| Music publishing | Recordings | ||
| Lewis Capaldi | #1 UK Album & Single | Conkarah ‘Banana’ | 400m+ Global Streams |
| NAV | #1 Billboard 200 Albums | KSI Dissimulation | Biggest UK debut album YTD |
| Juice WRLD | #1 Billboard 200 Albums | Run The Jewels RTJ4 | Highest US chart debut yet |
| Ufo361 | #1 DE Album | Jason Aldean | 660m+ Global streams |
Digital accounted for 83% of recordings revenue and 48% of music publishing revenue during the period.
There were no major acquisitions during the period. Said Masuch, “Our growth is almost entirely organic. 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 publi
