Universal Music Reports In-Line End to 2022; Full-Year Growth Boosted by the Return of Live Music

Universal Music posted an in-line end to 2022 as fourth-quarter revenue and adjusted EBITDA met FactSet projections. Like its peers, Universal Music remains highly dependent on streaming, which generated 49% of fourth-quarter revenue, up from 48% a year ago, and 51% of full-year revenue, down from 53% in 2021. The importance of streaming fell slightly in 2021 due to strong growth in physical, license, and publishing revenue. We expect music will remain the main driver of growth for music streaming platforms even as they add new products like podcasts.