Bronfman
Warner Music Group profits surged 92% to $69 million last quarter, buoyed by a jump in digital sales.
The company, led by Edgar Bronfman Jr., saw revenue slip 4%. It pinned the dip on foreign exchange rates and the loss of income from the sheet music business, sold last May. Excluding those items, Bronfman said, sales were flat from a year ago.
Recorded music fell 2% to $920 million. But WMG was celebrating a holiday binge on digital music players and gift cards as digital revenue rose to $69 million, up 36% from the previous quarter and nearly triple year-on-year.
Major sellers such as Madonna, Enya, James Blunt and Green Day contributed to the increase.
Digital revs accounted for 7% of the group's total.
WMG revealed it had received a second subpoena from New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer. During a conference call, Bronfman was tight-lipped about the inquiry into illegal price-fixing, noting the investigation was still "in its earliest days."
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