Paris-headquartered music company Believe has published its financial results for FY 2024 (the 12 months ending December 31).
According to Believe’s filing, the company generated revenues of EUR €988.8 million in 2024 across its entire business.
That annual revenue figure converts to USD $1.070 billion at the annual EUR-USD exchange rate published by the IRS.
The company’s FY revenues grew by €108.5 million ($117.42m), from €880.3 million in 2023, reflecting an increase of 12.3% YoY.
On an organic basis (at a like-for-like perimeter and constant exchange rate), Believe’s revenues grew 11.5% YoY.
The Group’s Adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) was €67.1 million ($72.6m) in 2024 (representing a margin of 6.8% versus 5.7% in 2023).
Believe’s net cash at the end of December 2024 was €139.8 million ($151.29m), which, according to the company, was “notably driven by €91 million M&A cash out”.
On an adjusted organic basis (which Believe says aims at providing a view on its organic revenue growth after neutralizing embedded market forex impact), the company’s total revenues grew 13.9% YoY, which, it said “was a solid performance notwithstanding persistent FX headwinds and adverse ad-funded streaming”.
Believe also noted that “paid streaming trends remained solid throughout the year, but the positive effect of price increases that large DSPs implemented in Q3 2023 faded away” in [H2 2024] and the anticipated new wave of price increases did not happen”.
The company added: “Ad-funded streaming trends recorded some progress but did not recover in many emerging markets, notably in Asia. Embedded market FX was negative throughout the year notwithstanding an improvement versus last year, notably in [Q4 2024].”
Believe said in its investor filing on Thursday that it “saw a record-breaking year for its artists around the world, generating more than 800 billion streams globally”.
The company added that 2024 “was a transformative year across the business, expanding into new territories with the launch of its first imprint in Japan, PlayCode, and breaking new ground with Indonesian Java Pop imprint Krumulo”.
Believe also highlighted the completion of its acquisition of Turkish label DMC, its newly launched electro label All Night Long in France in partnership with Kidding Aside, the acquisition of Punjabi “powerhouse” White Hill Music, and a strategic partnership with Global Records, which included a 25% stake in the Romania-born label.
Believe has issued annual public financials to shareholders since its IPO in 2021. The company was taken majority-private again in June 2024 by investors including TCV, EQT, and Believe founder, Denis Ladegaillerie.)
According to Believe’s investor relations site, at the time of its earnings release after the market closed today, the consortium held 96.63% of Believe’s share capital.
The company said its year was also marked by the launch of Believe’s ‘Be Odyssey‘ program, which it said, “aims at further optimizing the technological capabilities of the Central Platform”.
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’)
Believe’s revenues from its ‘Automated Solutions’ grew 15.9% YoY (on an organic basis) from €55.2 million in 2023, to €64.6 million ($69.91m) in 2024.
The company’s ‘Premium Solutions’ revenues, meanwhile, grew 11.2% YoY (on an organic basis) from €825.1 million in 2023 to €942.2 million ($1.019bn) in 2024 (see below).
The company reports that its total Digital Music Sales (DMS) reached €1.31 billion ($1.41bn) in 2024, up 8.3% YoY, reflecting “double-digit growth in Premium Solutions and a solid performance in Automated Solutions”.
Believe defines DMS as “the revenue generated from digital store partners and social media platforms before royalty payment to artists and labels”.
According to Believe, it’s digital sales growth reflected “resilient paid-streaming development and some market share gains, which were mitigated by the absence of recovery in ad-funded streaming in emerging markets and continued negative embedded market FX”.
Believe also breaks down its revenues geographically and reported revenue growth across all territories with a “steep” increase in Europe “excluding France and Germany and the Americas”.
You can see that geographic breakdown in detail below:
Europe (excluding France and Germany)
The company saw 23.3% YoY revenue growth in Europe (excluding France and Germany), generating €326.4 million ($353.24m) in the region in 2024. Europe represented 33% of Believe’s total revenues in 2024.
Believe noted that it saw strong growth across Eastern Europe and in Spain and that its revenues in Turkey “continued increasing”.
Believe said its performance in the UK was “positively uplifted” by Sentric’s integration on a 12-month basis. Believe acquired $51 million-valued Sentric from Utopia Music in March 2023.
The company noted that Sentric’s revenues are split by region “thanks to greater integration” into Believe’s systems since Q2 2024, while they were previously accounted for in Europe, excluding France and Germany. It added that most of the revenues were reallocated to the US”.
Americas
Elsewhere in the world, the Americas grew by 18% YoY to €151.2 million ($163.63m) and represented 15.3% of Believe’s total revenues in FY 2024.
As detailed above, Believe said that “the performance was enhanced by the reallocation of a portion of Sentric’s revenues to the US as of [Q2 2024]”.
The company said that its “level of activity remained solid in Mexico and Brazil” in the second half of 2024, which enabled it to “further build its market position in the Latin Music space”. Believe also saw “significant progress in the US” driven by TuneCore.
Believe said that its Automated platform business (i.e DIY distro platform TuneCore) “witnessed strong revenue growth throughout the year and its performance was boosted by the success of the new marketing program TuneCore Accelerator“.
France
Meanwhile, in France, Believe’s revenues increased by 10.3% YoY to €162.9 million ($176.29m) in 2024 and represented 16.5% of the Group’s revenues.
Believe said that digital revenues “further improved” in the market, but the “growth rate slowed down” in Q4 2024 compared with Q3 2024, “which had benefited from a strong calendar of new releases”.
Non-digital sales also dipped in Q4 2024, “reflecting a strong decline in live activities” compared with Q4 2023.
“Given the market position and the size of Artist Services, non-digital revenues have become significant as Believe offers a complete range of services to the top local artists it serves,” the company said on Thursday
Asia Pacific and Africa
Believe’s revenues grew 3.5% YoY in Asia Pacific and Africa to €237 million ($256.49m) which represented 24% of the roup’s revenues.
The company said that its “level of activity” in Greater China and Japan, where Believe is “currently building up its position”, was “strong throughout the year”.
Believe reported that “ad-funded streaming activities remained subdued in Southeast Asia and in India, which are still largely relying on the freemium model of international DSPs”.
Paid-streaming trends, meanwhile, “remained solid” in these markets, but “were less buoyant than anticipated” in some markets and were affected in India by the shutdown of the local streaming service Wynk.
Germany
In Germany, Believe reported that its revenues were “stable year-over-year with an increase at the end of the year, as the Group’s strategy to reorganize its activities in the country has started to bear fruit”.
Believe’s revenues in Germany grew just 0.4% YoY to €111.3 million ($120.45m).
According to the company, “non-digital sales continued declining due to Believe’s proactive decision to accelerate its exit from contracts, which were too heavily reliant on physical sales and merchandising, while digital sales confirmed their return to a positive trajectory”.
Looking ahead to FY 2025, Believe said that “with limited ad-funded streaming growth in [FY 2025] and assuming no significant subscription price increases at large DSPs,” the company forecasts organic growth above +13.0% YoY in FY 2025.
Believe expects an adjusted EBITDA margin of around 8% for FY 2025.
The company said that it will “continue to drive a profitable growth trajectory” in FY 2025 “towards its long-term profitability objective of 15% Adjusted EBITDA margin”.
For FY 2025, Believe also plans to “increase its focus on value optimization, accelerate its strategy of controlled investments and implement more aggressive automation and efficiency plans”.
(The company noted that in FY 2024, it “revised its investment in local teams during the year and reduced the pace of its hiring plans in some regions”.)
All FY EUR-USD conversions in this report have been made using average annual data from the IRS. Music Business Worldwide
