BMG reports strong organic growth and EBITDA at an all-time high

In the financial year 2024, BMG’s organic revenue grew 8.1 percent (6.4 percent reported) to €963 million, reportedly fuelled by the successful execution of its BMG Next strategy, strong organic growth, and content investments in the music publishing and recorded music sectors.

Meanwhile, the company’s Operating EBITDA adjusted rose significantly by 37 percent to €265 million (previous year: €194 million). The EBITDA margin also reached an all-time high of 28 percent (previous year: 21 percent). While BMG’s digital revenue grew by 16 percent, driven primarily by streaming, the share of revenue from digital business in BMG’s total revenue has increased to 68 percent (previous year: 63 percent).

BMG CEO Thomas Coesfeld said, “Our BMG Next strategy has been instrumental in driving a successful 2024 with a step-change performance in a fast-evolving music market. Building on the strong performance of our artists and songwriters, ongoing go-to-market improvements, such as insourcing digital distribution, and continued high investment into our people, catalog acquisitions and technology development, we achieved an incredible 2024.”

As part of BMG Next, the company underwent significant changes to its global distribution go-to-market strategy, including direct licensing agreements with Spotify and Apple Music, while transitioning its physical distribution management to Universal Music Group. At the same time, new global structures, adopting a ‘global where possible, local where needed’ approach across Catalog Recordings, Sales, Marketing, Distribution, Analysis, and Frontline Americas, are said to have strengthened service and accountability to artists and songwriters while enhancing operational efficiency across both the publishing and recorded music businesses.

BMG invested approximately half a billion euros in catalog acquisitions and signings during the 2024 financial year. The company further strengthened its high-quality rights portfolio through the strategic implementation of Boost, the targeted investment program of its parent company Bertelsmann, purchasing 24 catalogs during the reporting period and bringing total investments since the program’s inception in 2021 to over €1 billion.

In the recorded music sector, BMG reportedly achieved notable success with the release of classic catalog titles by George Harrison and Bryan Ferry, alongside new releases from Lainey Wilson, Sum 41, Mustard, Travis, Crowded House, and Rita Ora. The company also released newly discovered, earliest recordings of Spanish flamenco guitarist Paco de Lucía and his brother Pepe. Kylie Minogue celebrated her tenth number one album on the UK charts with Tension II. In the same week, country sensation Jelly Roll topped the Billboard 200 for the first time with his album Beautifully Broken. The company signed new label deals with high-profile artists, including country superstar Blake Shelton, Mustard, YG, New Kids on the Block, Chace, K. Michelle and The Script.

In music publishing, BMG songwriters such as D’Mile, Pashanim and Blossoms achieved significant chart success. BMG writers account for a majority share of Eminem’s Houdini, one of the year’s biggest streaming hits and contributed to 13 songs from Beyoncé’s global chart-topping album Cowboy Carter, with The-Dream winning a Grammy for Album of the Year. Bruno Mars set a new Spotify record for monthly listeners, driven by the global hit Die With A Smile, a duet with Lady Gaga, which became the fastest song to reach one billion streams on the platform. BMG also signed or extended publishing agreements with artists, including Carly Pearce, KT Tunstall, Tyron Hapi, Ray Dalton, Ásdís, Hugel and Leony.

Additionally, BMG secured a worldwide agreement with Tomorrowland Music to administer its music publishing rights and signed a strategic partnership to manage Cirque du Soleil’s publishing catalog. The company also entered into a global agreement to provide production music for Amazon MGM Studios.

In line with its commitment to innovation, BMG upgraded its copyright management and monetisation platform, along with a new sales processing platform for music publishing and recorded music income. The company also optimised its myBMG platform with client-focused features and spearheaded GenAI initiatives to enhance product and process innovations, including new AI tools for digital marketing and music discovery.