BMG saw its revenue decline by 7.8% YoY to EUR €424 million (USD $507m) in the first half of 2025, down from €459 million in H1 2024.
That’s according to new interim figures from BMG and its parent Bertelsmann, published today (August 28).
However, the music firm says its “underlying music streaming revenue demonstrated high single-digit growth“.
In its mid-year report, Bertelsmann attributed BMG’s revenue fall to “declining revenues in the publishing and label business and portfolio changes resulting from the sale of [BMG’s] live business”.
In its own press release, BMG added: “The [revenue] decline primarily reflects the disposal of non-core businesses, including the divestment of live.”
On an organic basis – excluding the impact of acquisitions, disposals and currency effects – BMG’s revenue fell by 4.4% YoY in H1 2025.
Bertelsmann commented that this dip in organic revenues “partly reflects BMG’s strategic scaling back of lower-margin activities to focus more on digital revenue sources and long-term profitability“.
Despite the revenue decline, BMG’s operating EBITDA adjusted remained stable at €122 million ($146m), matching the €122 million recorded in H1 2024.
Significantly, that meant BMG recorded a strong EBITDA margin of 28.7% in the first half of 2025, up from 26.5% in H1 2024.
BMG CEO Thomas Coesfeld said: “Our results for the first half of 2025 demonstrate the effectiveness and strength of ourBMG Next business model: disciplined, digital-first, and built for long-term value for all stakeholders.
“Our strategy is rooted in what we do best – music publishing and recorded music – while continuously building new capabilities to enhance our service.
“Our results for the first half of 2025 demonstrate the effectiveness and strength of ourBMG Next business model: disciplined, digital-first, and built for long-term value for all stakeholders.”
Thomas Coesfeld, BMG
“Innovation and technology are the engines driving how we work and how we support our artists and songwriters. We’re building a future-forward music company, uniquely positioned at the intersection of creativity and technology.”
In the full year of 2024, BMG generated EUR €963 million (USD $1.04bn) in annual revenues, up 6.4% YoY or up 8.1% YoY on an organic basis.
Just over 51% of BMG’s €424 million revenues in the H1 2025 period were generated in the United States, with an additional 10.9% in the United Kingdom.
Revenues from Germany contributed 8.0% of the firm’s global total.
BMG generated EUR €31 million in nations outside of Europe/UK and the United States (including LATAM, MENA, and APAC), representing 7.3% of its worldwide turnover in the period.
Source: Bertelsmann interim 2025 report
Catalog acquisitions and artist signings
BMG completed 17 catalog acquisitions during the first six months of 2025, which it said were carried out in line with Bertelsmann’s “Bertelsmann Boost” strategy.
Bertlesmann said those 17 deals brought BMG’s total investment in music rights catalogs since 2021 to around EUR €1.2 billion.
Judging by figures released by the German company earlier this year, this implies that BMG spent around €100 million on catalog buys in H1 2025.
The company also made significant new signings and contract extensions in the first half of the year.
In recorded music, these included OneRepublic, Olly Murs, Evanescence, (G)i-dle, Joyce Wrice, Fredrik, and Jessi.
In BMG’s music publishing business, new signings and extensions included Gareth,James Arthur, Tom Walker, Steven Wilson, Juicy Bae, Sabotage, Robert Harvey, Alok, and Michael Schulte.
Label and publishing standouts
In its label business, BMG enjoyed success in H1 2025 with new releases from Blake Shelton, Jelly Roll, Jason Aldean, Wiz Khalifa, Billy Idol and Fantasy.
BMG artist Lainey Wilson won four Country Music Awards and secured the title of “Entertainer of the Year” for the second year in a row.
Three BMG catalog tracks achieved significant streaming milestones during the period. Haddaway’s “What Is Love,” LP’s “Lost on You” and Rick Astley’s “Never Gonna Give You Up” were each streamed over a billion times on Spotify, earning them induction into the Billions Club.
In the publishing business, successful releases included music by Ghost, Pashanim, CMAT, Lewis Capaldi, FKA twigs, and Pulp.
BMG songwriters also contributed significantly to major global hit singles. The company’s writers co-wrote “Die With A Smile” (co-written by Bruno Mars and D’Mile), “APT.” (co-written by Bruno Mars) and “luther” (co-written by roselilah and Kamasi Washington).
At the Grammy Awards, BMG songwriter The-Dream won a Grammy for “Album of the Year” for his co-production of Beyoncé’s global chart-topping album Cowboy Carter, while BMG songwriter Bruno Mars won the award for “Best Pop Duo/Group Performance” alongside Lady Gaga for “Die With a Smile.”
structural changes and brand refresh
During the first half of the year, BMG combined its sync and production music teams into a unified “Sync+” structure that provides what Bertelsmann calls “a comprehensive solution for repertoire licensing”.
This move was made in line with the firm’s BMG Next strategy.
BMG also expanded its direct licensing agreements with DSPs in H1. The firm says it additionally “advanced [our] direct-to-digital efforts to deliver measurable benefits such as improved access to listening data and audience insights, and enhanced on-platform marketing capabilities”.
Also under the BMG Next banner, the firm says it’s now leaning on GenAI to support marketing content creation, streamline workflows, and enable “more consistent” marketing across its catalog.
BMG has struck strategic partnerships with Google Cloud and OpenAI, among others, to enhance its internal tech stack.
Also in H1, BMG unveiled what it described as “a comprehensive brand refresh, marking a significant milestone in its evolution as a modern music company”.
EUR to USD conversions in this report have been made at the average rate for the period according to the European Central Bank
