Germany-headquartered music company BMG and Universal Music Group (UMG) have formed a new alliance. The companies say that they will “explore a range of collaborative initiatives to further expand opportunities for BMG-signed artists around the world”.<\/p>\n
The first project under the new alliance will be moving the distribution of physical formats of BMG\u2019s music \u2013 including vinyl and CD for thousands of BMG-signed artists \u2013 to UMG\u2019s Commercial Services division.<\/p>\n
UMG\u2019s Commercial Services division has operations in 60 countries covering more than 200 markets.<\/p>\n
News of the BMG x UMG alliance follows last month’s news<\/a>, first reported by MBW, that under CEO Thomas Coesfeld, BMG will later this year reclaim its digital distribution rights from current distribution partner Warner Music Group<\/a>.<\/p>\n Bertelsmann<\/a>-owned\u00a0BMG subsequently plans to handle its own distribution to streaming and download services for its recorded music repertoire.<\/p>\n As reported at the time, the company\u2019s physical recorded music distribution partnership with Warner\/ADA will come to an end next year, after which BMG is expected to transfer its CD and vinyl distribution contract to another partner.<\/p>\n BMG confirmed today (October 19) that the transition of its physical products to UMG is expected to commence in the second quarter of 2024 and will be fully transitioned by the end of 2024.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, BMG says that other collaborations with UMG are already under discussion, from “exploring shared positions on industry matters to joining forces in adjacent business lines”.<\/p>\n BMG\u2019s recordings catalog comprises around half a million tracks and the work of artists including Kylie Minogue, Jelly Roll, Lainey Wilson, AJR, Jason Aldean, Rick Astley, Black Sabbath, Buena Vista Social Club, Cro, 5 Seconds Of Summer, Max Giesinger, Andy Grammar, George Harrison, Iron Maiden, The Kinks, Dustin Lynch, Mecano, M\u00f6tley Cr\u00fce, Mot\u00f6rhead, Nena, Rita Ora, Louis Tomlinson, and many others.<\/p>\n The company reports that its recorded music business has tripled its revenues over the past seven years, “and is currently enjoying its most successful period yet with strong performances” from artists including Jelly Roll (Whitsitt Chapel), Kylie Minogue (Tension), Rita Ora (You & I) and Lainey Wilson (Bell Bottom Country) and with releases to come from artists including Jason Aldean, Jennifer Lopez, Chief Keef, Spiritbox and M\u00f6tley Cr\u00fce.<\/p>\n Today’s news arrives three months after Thomas Coesfeld became the company\u2019s new Chief Executive Officer.<\/p>\n In an interview with the newspaper Handelsblatt<\/em> <\/a>on Monday (October 16), he revealed that BMG expects to spend \u201ca similar\u201d amount on catalog acquisitions in 2023 as it did last year.<\/p>\n BMG<\/a> spent USD $400 million on catalog acquisitions in 2022.<\/p>\n As MBW reported back in March, Bertelsmann\u2019s latest\u00a0annual fiscal report<\/a>\u00a0revealed that BMG spent a record\u00a0USD $535 million<\/strong>\u00a0(EUR \u20ac509m)<\/strong>\u00a0on the acquisition of music catalogs plus artist signings (i.e. advances) last year.<\/p>\n Within that\u00a0$535 million<\/strong>\u00a0figure, confirmed Bertelsmann, BMG spent\u00a0$400 million (\u20ac380m)<\/strong>\u00a0on acquiring music catalogs globally in 2022 \u2013 more than even\u00a0Universal Music Group<\/a>\u00a0spent on catalog acquisitions<\/a>\u00a0in the same period.<\/p>\n