Universal Music Group Reports €3.39 Billion in Quarterly Revenue as Streaming Grows

Universal Music Group reported revenue of €3.394 billion ($3.90 billion) for the three months ending September 30, 2026. The company, one of the three major record groups, published the figures on Thursday, 29 October 2026, after saying on 1 October that it would report its third-quarter results on that date.

Revenue rose 11.7% from a year earlier at constant currency, a measure that strips out the effect of exchange-rate swings. That figure includes Downtown Music Holdings, a business Universal bought and began consolidating, meaning fully counting in its accounts, from 20 February 2026. Without Downtown, revenue grew 5.3%, according to Music Business Worldwide.

Streaming was the biggest single driver. Subscription revenue, the money from paid streaming plans, reached €1.422 billion ($1.64 billion) and grew 19.2% at constant currency. Excluding Downtown, that rose 9.5%. Subscription and streaming revenue including ad-supported services, where listeners hear adverts instead of paying, came to €1.809 billion ($2.08 billion), up 17.9%.

Physical sales also climbed. Income from CDs and vinyl rose 17.4% at constant currency to €392 million ($451.0 million). Recorded music, which covers income from the recordings themselves rather than from songwriting rights, totalled €2.559 billion ($2.94 billion), up 14.7%. Excluding Downtown, that category grew 7.4%.

Profit moved in a narrower band. Universal reported adjusted EBITDA of €729 million ($838.7 million). EBITDA stands for earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation, a profit measure that companies use to compare operations, and "adjusted" means certain one-off items are set aside. The margin, the share of revenue left as that profit, was 21.5%. That compares with 22.0% in the third quarter of 2025 and 20.5% in the second quarter of 2026. Excluding Downtown, the margin was 22.4%.

The quarter also sits within a longer run. Universal's revenue for the first half of 2026 was €6,194 million, up 5.3% on the year and up 10.8% at constant currency. Its third-quarter revenue in 2025 was €3,021 million, according to the company's results for that period.

For the people in this business, a quarter like this can mean different things. Streaming income is paid out to artists and songwriters as royalties, and the timing of those payments depends on contracts that can run for years. Behind the totals sit label staff, studio engineers, warehouse workers who handle physical orders, and the independent shops that stock vinyl. A higher revenue line does not, on its own, tell any of them how their year will go.

Universal's full quarterly materials, including the press release, financial report and factsheet, are published on its investor relations pages.