Universal Music Group's revenue 2004-2021

In 2021, Universal Music Group generated 8.5 billion euros in revenue, up from 7.43 billion in the previous year. UMG is the largest record company worldwide and parent company Vivendi's most profitable business segment.

Universal Music Group sets the tone

Universal Music Group (UMG) is the leading record label in the world, boasting an impressive roaster of sub-labels and artists from more than 60 countries. According to the company's most recent financial statements, recorded music remains UMG's most lucrative business segment, generating higher revenue streams than music publishing and merchandising combined. Universal was the label with the highest share in the recorded music market worldwide in 2020, accounting for roughly 32 percent of combined physical and digital music trade revenue that year. Meanwhile, revenue generated from Universal Music Group's music publishing segment surpassed one billion U.S. dollars for the third year in a row, reaching 1.34 billion U.S. dollars globally.

Record labels: the best things come in threes

Universal Music Group is the largest of the so-called “Big Three” record labels in the United States, followed by Warner Music Group and Sony Music Group. Together, these companies make up the lion's share of the global music publishing market, although independent labels also carve out impressive slices of the industry pie each year. As of 2022, two of the three major label groups, Universal and Warner, have sold company shares to Tencent Music Entertainment Group, the music streaming arm of Chinese technology and entertainment giant Tencent Holdings.