Paris-headquartered music company Believe has published its financial results for the first half of 2023.
Across Believe’s entire business, the company, which trades on the Paris Euronext, generated EUR €415.4 million, representing growth of 17.9% YoY.
On an organic basis (i.e. discounting acquisitions made this year), Believe’s revenues grew 17.5% YoY (see below).
Believe breaks down its global operations into two divisions:
- (i) DIY distributor TuneCore (referred to as ‘Automated Solutions’ in its results); as well as
- (ii) The performance of its core premium label and artist services operation (referred to as ‘Premium Solutions’)
According to the company’s latest financial results, in H1, its Automated Solutions division grew 17.1% YoY to €26.9 million.
The company’s ‘Premium Solutions’ revenues grew 18% YoY to €388.5 million in H1 2023 (see below).
Believe also breaks down its revenues geographically and reports strong growth in Asia-Pacific / Africa, the Americas, and in Europe.
The company saw 23.9% revenue growth in Europe (excluding France and Germany), generating €121.9 million in the region in the first half of the year. Europe represented 29.3% of Believe’s total revenues in H1 2023.
Elsewhere in Europe, the company says that the UK was “also very dynamic and positively impacted by the integration of [publishing platform] Sentric” in Q2 2023. Believe acquired $51 million-valued Sentric from Utopia Music in March.
Elsewhere in the world, Believe’s revenues grew 23.6% YoY in Asia Pacific and Africa to €112.2 million, which represented 27% of the group’s revenues.
Revenues generated by Belive’s operations in the Americas grew by 21.7% YoY and represented 14.6% of the group’s revenues. The company cites activity in Brazil and Mexico as being particularly strong throughout the first six months of the year.
In France, revenues increased by 12% YoY in H1 2023 and represented 16% of Believe’s revenues. Believe says that it “confirmed its position as a key player in France” in H1.
In Germany, revenues increased by 0.5% in H1 and represented 13% of Believe’s group revenues.
Believe says that digital sales in Germany “were less dynamic at the end of the quarter”, but that it “had successes in developing artists in digital genres”. Believe points to a recent joint venture with Madizin, which it says started its commercial roll-out “with promising signings”.
Believe also reports that, across its entire business, it saw digital organic revenue growth of 18% YoY in H1 2023 reflecting what it says was “a lower growth rate” in Q2 2023 of 14% YoY “due to currency headwinds embedded in revenues received from digital partners and moderate ad-supported monetization”.
Discounting these currency impacts, Believe says that its Q2 2023 digital organic growth would have amounted to 20.5% YoY.
Meanwhile, Believe reported an increase in Adjusted EBITDA for H1 2023 at €24.2 million or a margin of 5.8%, up by 250bps YoY reflecting what Believe says was “efficiency, control on investments and operating leverage”.
The company’s net cash at the end of June 2023 was €210.2 million, which Believe says provides it with “solid firepower for advances and acquisitions”.
“We have been focused on improving profitability and efficiency across the organization. We have also been in a great position to seize commercial opportunities and to invest in advances against better conditions to fuel long-term growth.”
Commenting on the company’s H1 results, Denis Ladegaillerie, Believe Founder and CEO, said: “The start of the year has been marked by another strong performance of the roster thanks to our unique model and digital expertise despite currency headwinds and lower ad-supported monetization.
“This is a testament to the quality of service, which is at the core of our positioning in the industry. We recorded a significant level of signings as well as renewals by Labels and Artists on longer term and improved conditions.
“We have been focused on improving profitability and efficiency across the organization. We have also been in a great position to seize commercial opportunities and to invest in advances against better conditions to fuel long-term growth.
“We are heavily engaged in several innovative AI and Generative AI exploratory partnership discussions in H1 and strongly believe that AI and Generative AI will have a strong positive impact for the music industry and particularly for Believe, as a digital end-to-end large-scale music and technology-driven business.”Music Business Worldwide
