Warner Music Group's fiscal year: losses halve and digital revenues soar

Warner Music Group, on Thursday December 13, released a complete report on its fiscal fourth quarter, showing a rise in revenue and narrower losses. Specifically, quarterly revenue rose 2% - over a one year period - to $731 million and net losses went down from $103m in FY2011 to $18m in 2012: a surprising 83% reduction. And quarterly digital revenue grew 15% year-on-year, up from $210m to $241m.

For the full fiscal year - which ended on September 30 - revenue of $2.78 billion was down from $2.87 billion a year earlier. WMG's loss of $112 million narrowed from $205 million a year earlier. total digital revenue for the year grew 12.8 percent and represented 33.3 percent of total revenue, compared to 28.6 percent in the prior year.
The significant growth in digital revenue reflects growth in subscription/streaming services and global downloads.

The official statement issued by Warner said: "growth in digital revenue more than offset physical revenue declines in the company's recorded music business. However, this net growth was more than offset by declines in artist services and expanded rights revenue, recording music licensing revenue and music publishing revenue".
"All signs continue to indicate the digital is fuelling a return to growth in the music industry," CEO Stephen Cooper commented. "The download business, which was the first wave of the digital music business, continues to expand".