The MBW Database

Universal Music Group: Annual ‘artist costs’ in EUR (2020-2023)

Each year, Universal Music Group reveals the total amount of “artist costs” it splashed out in the previous FY.

“Artist costs” in this regard primarily consist of three items, applied across recorded music and music publishing:

  • (i) royalty expenses, including those applied against unrecouped artist/writer accounts;
  • (ii) advances to new/unproven talent that are immediately expensed by UMG (rather than capitalized as they would be for more established artists); and 
  • (iii) write-downs on any advances deemed unrecoupable.

Below, MBW presents this information in a data visualization showing UMG’s annual “artist costs” from 2020 up to the firm’s latest annual report.

UMG’s fiscal year runs as the calendar year (i.e. Jan-Dec).