Paris-headquartered music company Believe has published its financial results for Q1 2023 (the three months to end of March).
Across Believe’s entire business, the company, which floated on the Paris Euronext in 2021, generated €198.6 million in Q1 2023, representing growth of 22.2% YoY.
That quarterly revenue figure converts to USD $213.09 million.
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 Q1, its Automated Solutions division grew 11.2% YoY to €12.7 million ($13.62m).
The company’s ‘Premium Solutions’ revenues grew 23.0% YoY to €186 million ($199.57m) in Q1 2023 (see below).
Digging deeper into Believe’s results tells us that the company saw growth across geographic regions, with what the company said was a “particularly strong” growth in Asia Pacific and Africa.
Asia Pacific and Africa combined saw revenue growth of 40% YoY to €56.1 million ($60.19m), which represented 28.2% of Group revenues (versus 24.7% in Q1 22).
Believe said that “market dynamics were strong in the first quarter across all Asian markets” and that its “roster in the region grew significantly over the past few years thanks to the continuous investment in local teams and the deployment of the full services’ offer in most markets”.
Believe revealed that it recorded “strong growth in India, Greater China and Southeast Asia alike”.
In the ‘Americas’, Believe’s revenues grew by 25.2% YoY to €29.4 million ($31.54m), representing 14.8% of the company’s revenues.
Going into more detail about its activities in the Americas, Believe said that it “benefitted from a strong level of activity in Latin America, notably in Brazil where the Group was particularly successful during the quarter”.
In Europe (excluding France and Germany), Believe’s revenues grew 21.1% YoY to €54.4 million ($58.37m), which represented 27.4% of its Group revenues in Q1 2023.
Believe noted that the fastest-growing markets in Europe were in Southern Europe and Eastern Europe, while Turkey “returned to strong growth during the quarter, with revenue growth significantly uplifted by the success of a film produced by DMC”.
In France, Believe’s revenues increased by 13.2% YoY in Q1 2023 to €32.1 million ($34.44m) and represented 16.2% of the company’s total revenues.
In Germany, Believe generated revenues of €26.6 million ($28.54m), up by 3.7% YoY in Q1 2023, which represented 13.4% of the company’s revenues.
One of the highlights referenced by Believe for the quarter was its acquisition of UK-born music publishing platform Sentric, which it said, marks its “first step in building a global and comprehensive publishing offer”.
Believe acquired Sentric from Utopia Music last month, and said at the time that the transaction values Sentric at €47 million ($51m).
Within its Q1 results filing, Believe said that Sentric’s “proprietary and innovative platform is one of the most advanced solutions in the market, able to manage publishing for self-releasing artists profitably and at scale, while also offering global publishing deals to rights-holders at each stage of their development”.
Believe added that it will “immediately expand the commercial deployment of Sentric in Automated Solutions and is currently working on the value proposition for Premium Solutions”.
Believe also highlighted a global partnership announced this week between TuneCore and Beatport, a music platform for DJs, and producers, which enables TuneCore artists to distribute their songs to the platform.
“This great start to the year, marked by strong operational milestones and solid organic performance, shows that we are well on track to deliver another year of profitable growth.”
Denis Ladegaillerie, Believe
Commenting on the results, Denis Ladegaillerie, Founder and CEO, said: “This great start to the year, marked by strong operational milestones and solid organic performance, shows that we are well on track to deliver another year of profitable growth.
“Quarter after quarter, we are reinforcing our leadership in digital music, strengthening our appeal to artists and labels by the addition of value-added solutions and tools, increasing our global reach through a successful investment strategy, and training our teams, artists and labels to thrive in the digital ecosystem.
“This quarter is no exception, and it marks another step towards our ambition to be the best company at developing digital artists at each stage of their career.”
All EUR-USD conversions in this report for Q1 2023 have been made as the average prevailing quarterly rate as identified by the European Central Bank.Music Business Worldwide
