Anatomy of a good company: Universal Music Group

World's largest music company

There tend to be many features that most ‘good companies’ have in common, but there are myriad characteristics and features to analyse that will be unique to each and every business. But only by truly getting under the skin of a company can you ensure that it is properly equipped to deliver for its investors.

A case in point is Universal Music Group (UMG), one of the world's largest music companies. In recorded music, its principal activity, UMG is the market leader, with a 32% market share and 8 of the top 10 global artists in 2021 signed to its labels like, Taylor Swift and Drake while owning rights to older artists, including ABBA, The Beatles . In the streaming era, UMG generates the majority of its revenues when its songs are played on a digital streaming provider (DSP) such as Spotify or Apple Music, generating a subsequent royalty for the business and the artist. Transformation of i...