Warner Music Group Corp. today announced third quarter financial results for the period ending June 30, 2017. It was WMG’s strongest quarter in years. Net income was $143 million, compared to a $7 million loss in the prior-year quarter.
Driving the growth was digital revenue, which grew 30.2% and represented 54.1% of total revenue, compared to 47.0% in the prior-year quarter. This is the second consecutive quarter where digital revenue exceeded 50% of the company’s total revenue driven by explosive growth in music streaming:
• Streaming accounted for 80% of total digital revenue growing to $360 million last quarter, up from $227 in Q3 2016.
• Download revenue fell 28% from the prior year quarter to $88 million
• Streaming is on track to contribute more than $1.35 billion to WMG total 2017 revenue in 2017
Music Publishing revenue rose 11.9%. Publishing revenue grew in performance and digital, but mechanical revenue declined due to the continuing shift to streaming. Synchronization revenue was flat. Music Publishing operating income was $6 million, flat with the prior-year quarter.
“I’m proud of our team for delivering such strong results, particularly against difficult comparisons in the prior-year quarter,” added Eric Levin, Warner Music Group’s Executive Vice President and CFO. “I’m confident that 2017 will be another strong year.”