Revenues at Universal Music Group slumped 21% in 2003 to €4.97 billion ($6.2 billion). In constant-currency terms, sales were down 12% from 2002.
Parent company Vivendi Universal attributes the declines to “weakness in the global music market, adverse currency movements and a lower number of releases from global superstars.”
Growth in the U.K. and Japan was offset by declines in the U.S., Germany, France and at the company’s European record clubs.
UMG benefitted from the release of 50 Cent’s “Get Rich or Die Tryin’,” which was the year’s best-seller in the U.S. and shipped more than 9 million units internationally. Other top-selling UMG releases were by Eminem, T.A.T.U., Black Eyed Peas, Sting and Busted.
During the fourth quarter, UMG’s revenues fell 19% to €1.69 billion ($2.12 billion).
Meanwhile, parent company Vivendi Universal predicts a “return to profit” in 2003, excluding non-recurring items and goodwill.
The conglomerate’s total revenues fell 56% to €25.5 billion ($32 billion) in the year ending Dec. 1, 2003.
