WMG Welcomes Record Q4 Revenue Amid Spate of AI Deals
Robert Kyncl (Jimmy Fontaine)
Warner Music Group posted record-high quarterly revenue in Q4, powered by continued growth in recorded music, music publishing and subscription-based streaming.
Total revenue rose 15% to $1.87b, digital revenue climbed 8% to $951m and net income ballooned to $109m from $48m year over year. Adjusted OIBDA zoomed 15% to $405m.
In the U.S. WMG was up 0.6% in market share YOY, per Luminate; globally, the company's share of the Spotify Top 200 rose six percentage points compared to fiscal 2024. Top sellers in the quarter included Alex Warren, Ed Sheeran, Twenty One Pilots, Teddy Swims and sombr.
The news comes amid a flurry of AI-related deals this week for WMG with Udio, Stability AI and KLAY, which the company says will grow new revenue streams for artists and songwriters.
"With our artists and songwriters hotter than ever, market share gains drove our quarterly revenues to an all-time high,” said WMG CEO Robert Kyncl. “Our powerful momentum is underpinned by increasing the value of music—through volume and rate increases—and now with incremental revenue opportunities in AI."
[Our] approach is clear: legislate, litigate, license. We lobby for legislation that sets clear guidelines. We deploy litigation to halt bad actors. And we use licensing as the most powerful way to shape the future.
"We have made significant progress against our priorities to accelerate top- and bottom-line growth and drive efficiency,” added WMG CFO Armin Zerza. “The double-digit revenue jump we delivered in Q4, and our stronger second-half performance, demonstrates that our strategy is working. We look forward to sustained profitable growth in 2026 as we continue to invest to deliver bigger opportunities for artists and songwriters and greater shareholder value."
Other notable Q4 achievements include a 68% rise in artist services and an increase in expanded-rights revenue to $327m, fueled by a merchandising windfall attributable to WMG's partnership with the reunited Oasis.
"During fiscal ‘25, our recording artists sat atop the Billboard Global 200 for 22 weeks—that’s a 42% share of the #1 spot on the chart," Kyncl said.
He also confirmed that WMG has renewed its deals with four of the biggest DSPs since the beginning of the year. They all come with "wholesale price increases, providing certainty around economics and setting up monetization models for future use cases."
Kyncl penned a separate blog post about the new AI-related partnerships, which can be read here. In it, he said WMG's "approach is clear: legislate, litigate, license. We lobby for legislation that sets clear guidelines. We deploy litigation to halt bad actors. And we use licensing as the most powerful way to shape the future."