Warner Music Group Corp (WMG) 2025 Q2 法說會逐字稿

Welcome to Warner Music Group's second-quarter earnings call for the period ended March 31, 2025. At the request of Warner Music Group, today's call is being recorded for replay purposes. (Operator Instructions) Now I would like to turn today's call over to your host, Mr. Kareem Chin, Head of Investor Relations. You may begin.

歡迎參加華納音樂集團截至 2025 年 3 月 31 日的第二季財報電話會議。應華納音樂集團的要求，今天的通話將被錄音以供重播。（操作員指示）現在，我想將今天的電話會議轉給主持人、投資者關係主管 Kareem Chin 先生。你可以開始了。

Good morning, everyone, and welcome to Warner Music Group's fiscal second-quarter earnings conference call. Please note that our earnings press release, earnings snapshot, and Form 10-Q are available on our website. On today's call, we have our CEO, Robert Kyncl; and our departing CFO, Bryan Castellani, who will take you through our results, and then we will answer your questions.

大家早安，歡迎參加華納音樂集團第二財季財報電話會議。請注意，我們的收益新聞稿、收益快照和 10-Q 表格可在我們的網站上查閱。參加今天電話會議的有我們的執行長 Robert Kyncl；以及我們即將離任的財務長 Bryan Castellani，他將向您介紹我們的業績，然後我們將回答您的問題。

Before our prepared remarks, I'd like to refer you to the second slide of the earnings snapshot to remind you that this communication includes forward-looking statements that reflect the current views of Warner Music Group about future events and financial performance. We plan to present certain non-GAAP results during this conference call and in our earnings snapshot slides and have provided schedules reconciling these results to our GAAP results in our earnings press release. All of these materials are posted on our website.

在我們準備好發言之前，我想請您看一下收益快照的第二張幻燈片，以提醒您，本通訊包含前瞻性陳述，反映了華納音樂集團對未來事件和財務業績的當前看法。我們計劃在本次電話會議和收益快照幻燈片中展示某些非 GAAP 結果，並在收益新聞稿中提供了將這些結果與我們的 GAAP 結果進行協調的時間表。所有這些資料都發佈在我們的網站上。

Also, please note that all revenue figures and comparisons discussed today will be presented in constant currency unless otherwise noted. All forward-looking statements are made as of today, and we disclaim any duty to update such statements. Our expectations will lease and projections are expressed in good faith, and we believe there is a reasonable basis for them.

另外，請注意，除非另有說明，今天討論的所有收入數字和比較都將以固定貨幣表示。所有前瞻性陳述均截至今日作出，我們不承擔更新此類陳述的任何義務。我們的預期和預測都是真誠表達的，我們相信它們有合理的基礎。

However, there can be no assurance that management's expectations, beliefs and projections will result or be achieved. Investors should not rely on forward-looking statements because they are subject to a variety of risks, uncertainties, and other factors that can cause actual results that differ materially from our expectations.

然而，無法保證管理層的期望、信念和預測會產生或實現。投資者不應依賴前瞻性陳述，因為它們受各種風險、不確定性和其他因素的影響，這些因素可能導致實際結果與我們的預期有重大差異。

Information concerning factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements is contained in our filings with the SEC. And with that, I'll turn it over to Robert.

有關可能導致實際結果與前瞻性陳述中的結果大不相同的因素的資訊包含在我們向美國證券交易委員會提交的文件中。說完這些，我就把麥克風交給羅伯特。

Thanks, Kareem, and hello, everyone. While you were waiting, you just heard new tracks from Rosé and Don Toliver, both featured in the hotly anticipated F1 movie. The blockbuster Apple film starring Brad Pitt will be released in June. Its soundtrack will add to our run-off hit albums for movies such as Bardi and The Greatest Showman.

謝謝，Kareem，大家好。在您等待的時候，您剛剛聽到了 Rosé 和 Don Toliver 的新曲目，這兩首曲目都出現在備受期待的 F1 電影中。由布萊德彼特主演的蘋果大片將於六月上映。它的配樂將添加到我們的熱門電影專輯中，例如《巴迪》和《馬戲之王》。

As many of you know, Bryan Castellani will be leaving us, and I'd like to thank him for his counsel, partnership, and contributions to our company. I know everyone joins me in wishing him the best in his next endeavor. Armin Zerza joined us as CFO this week, and he brings a strong track record of operational excellence, commercial innovation, and financial discipline.

許多人都知道，布萊恩·卡斯特拉尼 (Bryan Castellani) 即將離開我們，我要感謝他為我們公司提供的建議、合作和貢獻。我知道大家都和我一樣祝福他在接下來的努力中一切順利。Armin Zerza 本週加入我們擔任財務官，他在卓越營運、商業創新和財務紀律方面擁有豐富的經驗。

He was previously CFO at Gaming Giant, Activision Blizzard, where he played pivotal roles in the company's growth for almost a decade. I look forward to working with Armin as we enter the next exciting era for music. I'll get into our broader strategy shortly, but first, let's talk about the quarter.

他曾擔任遊戲巨頭動視暴雪的首席財務官，在近十年的時間裡為公司的發展發揮了關鍵作用。我期待與阿明合作，共同邁入下一個令人興奮的音樂時代。我很快就會介紹我們的更廣泛的策略，但首先，讓我們談談本季的情況。

Our results in Q2 reflect a lighter release schedule, market share pressure in China, and a tough year-over-year comparison in subscription streaming, where we saw strong double-digit growth in the prior year quarter.

我們第二季的業績反映出發行計畫減少、中國市場份額壓力以及訂閱串流媒體的同比艱難，去年同期我們看到了強勁的兩位數成長。

As a result, the company's revenue increased 1% as recorded music revenue grew 1% and Music Publishing revenue grew 3%. Within Recorded Music, subscription streaming grew 3%. Total company adjusted OIBDA decreased 1% and adjusted OIBDA margin decreased 50 basis points. We recognize this is a moment of transition in the industry and for our company.

結果，該公司的收入成長了 1%，其中錄製音樂收入成長了 1%，音樂出版收入成長了 3%。在錄製音樂領域，訂閱串流媒體成長了 3%。公司調整後 OIBDA 總額下降 1%，調整後 OIBDA 利潤率下降 50 個基點。我們認識到這是行業和我們公司的轉型時刻。

Even so, we are very optimistic for many reasons, but three in particular. One, against the backdrop of global uncertainty, music is the most resilient art form and currently the least expensive. Two, the industry across music companies and DSPs is aligned behind driving growth through subscribers and price increases.

即便如此，我們仍然非常樂觀，原因有很多，但主要有三點。首先，在全球不確定的背景下，音樂是最具彈性的藝術形式，目前也是最便宜的藝術形式。其次，音樂公司和 DSP 產業一致地透過增加訂閱用戶和提高價格來推動成長。

And three, WMG has the right creative and commercial strategies in place, and we're sharpening our execution as we stay focused on our long-term growth and profitability. I'd like to dive deeper here and give you insight into the progress we're making across the three priorities we've previously shared.

第三，WMG 已經制定了正確的創意和商業策略，我們正在加強執行力度，同時專注於長期成長和獲利能力。我想在這裡深入探討一下，讓大家了解我們在之前分享的三個優先事項上所取得的進展。

Grow market share, grow the value of music, and become more efficient, freeing up more capital, both for reinvestment and to drive greater shareholder return. I'll start with growing market share. From great new signings to returning superstars to timeless legends across genres and geographies, every aspect of our artist and songwriter development engine is heating up.

擴大市場份額，提高音樂價值，提高效率，釋放更多資本，用於再投資並推動更大的股東回報。我先從擴大市場佔有率開始。從偉大的新簽約歌手到回歸的超級巨星，再到跨流派和跨地區的永恆傳奇人物，我們的藝術家和詞曲作者發展引擎的各個方面都在升溫。

With our investment activities also gathering pace, we're well positioned to take a bigger slice of the pie. In Recorded Music, our new talent is really shining through from megahits like Teddy Swims' Lose Control, the longest running top 10 song in the history of Billboard Hot 100 to Benson Boone's Beautiful Things, the number one song in the world for all of 2024.

隨著我們的投資活動步伐加快，我們已準備好分得更大的一杯羹。在錄製音樂方面，我們的新人才真正大放異彩，從泰迪·斯威姆斯 (Teddy Swims) 的《Lose Control》等超級熱門歌曲（Billboard Hot 100 歷史上停留時間最長的前 10 名歌曲）到本森·布恩 (Benson Boone) 的《Beautiful Things》排名第一的歌曲。

The next wave of rising stars includes Alex Warren, who's with Ordinary has topped the UK chart for seven consecutive weeks and also rose to number one on the Billboard Global 200 and Ovy On The Drums, W Sound, whose La Plena is the biggest Latin song in the world, reaching number one in 13 markets.

下一波冉冉升起的新星包括亞歷克斯·沃倫 (Alex Warren)，他與 Ordinary 樂隊一起連續七週榮登英國排行榜榜首，並在 Billboard 全球 200 強中名列第一，以及 Ovy On The Drums 和 W Sound 樂隊，他們的《La Plena》是世界上最流行的拉丁歌曲，在 13 個拉丁市場中排名第一。

There is also a huge momentum behind artists like Marías, Sombr, Ravyn Lenae, and Forrest Frank. At the same time, our superstars continue to build momentum. Ed Sheeran's Azizam is a top 10 in several markets, including the UK in advance of its latest album, Play, which comes out in September.

MarÃas、Sombr、Ravyn Lenae 和 Forrest Frank 等藝術家也擁有巨大的發展勢頭。與此同時，我們的超級巨星繼續積聚力量。艾德希蘭 (Ed Sheeran) 的專輯《Azizam》已在包括英國在內的多個市場進入排行榜前十，其最新專輯《Play》將於 9 月發行。

Rosé and Bruno Mars APT spent its 27th week in the Spotify global top five and Bruno Mars record break duet with Lady Gaga, Die with a Smile, currently sits at number one for the 29th week. And we have more number ones across established markets with domestic artists like SCH in France, Promise in Germany, Gang Parade in Japan and many more.

Rosé 和 Bruno Mars 的《APT》已連續 27 週位列 Spotify 全球前五名，而 Bruno Mars 與 Lady Gaga 合作的破紀錄二重唱《Die with a Smile》目前已連續 29 週位居第一。我們在成熟市場上擁有更多冠軍單曲，其中包括法國的 SCH、德國的 Promise、日本的 Gang Parade 等眾多國內藝人。

We're also seeing real progress in high-growth markets such as MENA, Nigeria, and India, where we've meaningfully increased our market share in an environment where monetization is rapidly shifting towards paid streaming.

我們也在中東和北非、奈及利亞和印度等高成長市場取得了真正的進展，在貨幣化迅速轉向付費串流媒體的環境下，我們的市場份額顯著增加。

We recently signed a promising new deal with highly regarded entrepreneur, Anjula Acharia to help break artists of South Asian heritage in North America. I've known Anjula since my days at Netflix, and I partnered with her at YouTube, and I'm very excited to be working with her again.

我們最近與備受推崇的企業家 Anjula Acharia 簽署了一項有前景的新協議，以幫助在北美髮掘南亞裔藝術家。我在 Netflix 工作時就認識 Anjula，並且曾在 YouTube 與她合作過，我很高興能再次與她合作。

Our legendary catalog also consistently performs. We recently commanded nearly half of the top 50 best-selling albums for record store day in the US, the biggest vinyl sales day of the year. Classic tracks continue to research and impact today's culture.

我們的傳奇目錄也始終表現優異。最近，在美國唱片行日（一年中黑膠唱片銷量最大的一天）最暢銷的 50 張專輯中，我們佔了近一半的份額。經典曲目不斷研究並影響著當今的文化。

For example, Wale's 2013 Single LoveHate Thing went viral on TikTok and so streams rise more than 6,000% over seven weeks. In Music Publishing, Warner Chappell for Billboard's Publishers Quarterly for the first time taken the number one spot on the Radio Airplay, Hot 100 Songs, and the Country Airplay charts.

例如，Wale 2013 年的單曲《LoveHate Thing》在 TikTok 上走紅，七週內播放量增加了 6,000% 以上。在音樂出版領域，華納查普爾 (Warner Chappell) 為《公告牌出版商季刊》創作的歌曲首次在電台播放榜、百強單曲榜和鄉村音樂播放榜上奪得第一。

Composer Daniel Blumberg won the best original score Oscar for The Brutalist and we continue to make exciting new signings, including superstar DJ, Diplo and reggaeton star, Yandel. I'd like to highlight that our creative engine is firing on all cylinders. Our share on the Spotify global chart has grown very consistently and by nearly 50% since mid-2023, with Q3 on trend to be our highest chart share in two years.

作曲家 Daniel Blumberg 以《野獸派》榮獲奧斯卡最佳原創配樂獎，我們繼續簽約令人興奮的新藝人，包括超級巨星 DJ Diplo 和雷鬼音樂明星 Yandel。我想強調的是，我們的創意引擎正全速運轉。我們在 Spotify 全球排行榜上的份額一直穩步增長，自 2023 年中期以來增長了近 50%，第三季度有望成為我們兩年來最高的排行榜份額。

In addition, right now, WMG's recording artists hold five of the top 10 tracks on the Billboard Global Chart, including the top three with Alex Warren, Bruno Mars, and Rosé. These results are a promising sign that our strategy is working. We take a twin engine approach to growing our market share. Alongside organic and our investment, we're also increasing our M&A activity. We expect to have more news about our M&A investment plans in the near future.

此外，目前，WMG 的錄音藝術家在 Billboard 全球排行榜前 10 名歌曲中佔據 5 個席位，其中前三名分別是 Alex Warren、Bruno Mars 和 Rosé。這些結果是一個好兆頭，表明我們的策略正在發揮作用。我們採取雙引擎方法來擴大我們的市場份額。除了有機成長和投資之外，我們還在增加併購活動。我們期待在不久的將來獲得更多關於我們的併購投資計劃的消息。

Now let's turn to our second priority, growing the value of music. One key shift in the industry is that it's moving from just subscriber growth to growth driven by both subscribers and price increases. Our collaboration with many of the biggest tech companies in the world, including Spotify and Amazon provides more opportunities for innovation, along with greater certainty around our economic participation as price increases become more regular.

現在讓我們來談談第二個優先事項，即提高音樂的價值。該行業的一個關鍵轉變是，它正在從單純的用戶成長轉向由用戶和價格上漲共同驅動的成長。我們與包括 Spotify 和亞馬遜在內的全球許多大型科技公司的合作為創新提供了更多機會，同時隨著價格上漲變得更加規律，我們的經濟參與也更加確定。

Growing the value of music starts with protecting our artists and songwriters. And today, nowhere is that more crucial than with AI. I was in D.C. last month to support a revised NO FAKES Act, the same legislation that I testified for at a Senate hearing last April.

提升音樂的價值首先要保護我們的藝術家和詞曲作者。如今，沒有什麼比人工智慧更重要。上個月，我去了華盛頓特區，支持修訂後的《禁止假法案》，去年四月，我在參議院聽證會上為該法案作證。

The bill provides protections against unauthorized [defects] while setting up a licensing framework paving the way for new revenue streams and more trustworthy products. This is not only a bipartisan bill that we have gathered support across music, entertainment and tech industries, including MPA, SAG-AFTRA, YouTube, OpenAI and others. It also could serve as a blueprint for the treatment of name, image, likeness and voice rights around the world.

該法案提供了對未經授權的[缺陷]的保護，同時建立了許可框架，為新的收入來源和更值得信賴的產品鋪平了道路。這不僅是一項兩黨法案，我們還獲得了音樂、娛樂和科技產業的支持，包括 MPA、SAG-AFTRA、YouTube、OpenAI 等。它還可以作為世界各地處理姓名、形象、肖像和聲音權利的藍圖。

Our role as a music company has never been more relevant and is becoming increasingly pivotal as the ecosystem gets more complex. Bringing together millions of copyrights across recorded music and publishing, we use our scale and expertise to create value for artists and songwriters across a vast global network of multi-billion-dollar tech companies.

隨著生態系統變得越來越複雜，我們作為音樂公司的角色從未如此重要，而且變得越來越關鍵。我們匯集了錄製音樂和出版領域的數百萬版權，利用我們的規模和專業知識，為遍布全球的數十億美元科技公司網絡中的藝術家和詞曲作者創造價值。

Finally, let's turn to efficiency. As we make organizational changes to optimize our performance, while yielding benefits from tech upgrades, we are driving a virtuous cycle, so we can invest more for the benefit of artists, songwriters, and shareholders. Since 2023, we've announced plans to achieve a cumulative total of more than $300 million in annualized cost savings, the majority of which is being reinvested in music and technology.

最後，讓我們來談談效率。當我們進行組織變革以優化我們的績效時，同時從技術升級中獲得收益，我們正在推動良性循環，因此我們可以為藝術家、詞曲作者和股東的利益進行更多投資。自 2023 年以來，我們宣布了累計實現年度成本節約超過 3 億美元的計劃，其中大部分將重新投資於音樂和技術。

This is an ongoing process that has become part of our DNA, and we will continue to look for ways to drive even more efficiencies. By doing so, we will free up additional resources to pursue the most attractive opportunities through a disciplined capital allocation plan.

這是一個持續的過程，已成為我們 DNA 的一部分，我們將繼續尋找提高效率的方法。透過這樣做，我們將釋放更多資源，透過嚴格的資本配置計畫來追求最具吸引力的機會。

As I told you on our last earnings call, we saw our A&R spend increased double digits last year, and it will increase by even more this year. We're starting to see signs of our strategy paying off. As I mentioned earlier, we have the strongest chart presence that we've had in a long time, which is translating to expanding market share in new releases across the US, the largest market in the world.

正如我在上次財報電話會議上所說的那樣，我們看到去年我們的 A&R 支出成長了兩位數，今年的成長幅度還會更大。我們開始看到我們的策略取得成效的跡象。正如我之前提到的，我們在排行榜上的表現是長期以來最強勁的，這意味著我們在世界最大市場美國的新專輯市佔率不斷擴大。

As we replicate the strategy across our other labels and geographies, we will augment our growth with M&A. In short, we're putting more wood behind fewer errors to turbocharge our core business. Our Tempo investment is a good signpost for the kinds of acquisitions you can expect us to make. The deal is a prime example of our M&A strategy in action, reinvesting cost savings into high-quality essential music with high margins.

隨著我們在其他品牌和地區複製這項策略，我們將透過併購來促進我們的成長。簡而言之，我們正在投入更多精力，減少錯誤，以增強我們的核心業務。我們對 Tempo 的投資為我們未來將進行的收購類型樹立了良好的標竿。這筆交易是我們併購策略付諸實施的典型例子，將節省下來的成本重新投資於高利潤的高品質基本音樂。

And we continue to invest in technology to sharpen our competitive edge and improve services for our artists and songwriters. A key example is the recent beta launch of WMG Pulse. This is an app which offers real-time insights strong from every major DSP and social media platform. This week, we invited 100 artists and songwriters to use the app, and we'll be adding more sophisticated features and financial data in the coming months.

我們將繼續投資技術，以增強我們的競爭優勢並改善為我們的藝術家和詞曲作者提供的服務。一個關鍵的例子是最近推出的 WMG Pulse 測試版。這是一款提供來自各大 DSP 和社交媒體平台的即時洞察的應用程式。本週，我們邀請了 100 位藝術家和詞曲作者使用該應用程序，並且我們將在未來幾個月內添加更多複雜的功能和財務數據。

In an ever-evolving industry, we're confident we'll drive more consistent long-term growth and profitability. However, we expect these challenges we experienced this quarter to persist for the remainder of the fiscal year, resulting in lower subscription streaming growth than previously expected.

在不斷發展的行業中，我們有信心實現更持續的長期成長和獲利能力。然而，我們預計本季遇到的這些挑戰將持續到本財年剩餘時間，導致訂閱串流媒體成長低於先前的預期。

As Armin settles into his new role, will provide updates on our business and capital allocation priorities on the next earnings call. With highly anticipated new releases from Ed Sheeran, Lizzo, David Guetta, Benson Boone, Alex Warren, Rosé, Burna Boy, Teddy Swims, Myke Towers and others coming this year. We are excited about the momentum we're building into 2026.

隨著阿明逐漸適應新角色，他將在下次收益電話會議上提供有關我們的業務和資本配置重點的最新資訊。今年，Ed Sheeran、Lizzo、David Guetta、Benson Boone、Alex Warren、Rosé、Burna Boy、Teddy Swims、Myke Towers 等藝人將推出備受期待的新專輯。我們對 2026 年所取得的進展感到非常興奮。

I'll now pass it over to Bryan, who will take you through the numbers.

現在我將把它交給布萊恩，他將向你們介紹這些數字。

Thank you, Robert, and good morning, everyone. Before I get into our results, I want to remind everyone that growth rate comparisons will be in constant currency. In Q2, total revenue increased 1% and adjusted OIBDA declined 1% with a margin of 20.4%, a decrease of 50 basis points over the prior year quarter, primarily due to revenue mix.

謝謝你，羅伯特，大家早安。在介紹我們的結果之前，我想提醒大家，成長率比較將採用固定貨幣。第二季度，總營收成長 1%，調整後的 OIBDA 下降 1%，利潤率為 20.4%，比去年同期下降 50 個基點，主要原因是營收結構。

Recorded Music revenue increased 1%, Subscription Streaming grew 3%, reflecting the challenging comparison to robust growth in the prior year quarter, compounded by a lighter release slate and market share loss in China. Ad-supported streaming declined by 3%, driven by a soft overall ad environment. Physical revenue increased 2% due to strong releases in the US and Japan which was partially offset by the BMG roll-off.

錄製音樂收入成長 1%，訂閱串流媒體成長 3%，與去年同期的強勁成長相比，成長面臨挑戰，加上發行量減少和中國市場份額的損失。由於整體廣告環境疲軟，廣告支援的串流播放量下降了 3%。由於美國和日本的強勁發行，實體收入成長了 2%，但被 BMG 的退出部分抵消。

Artist services and expanded rights revenue decreased 6% due to lower concert promotion revenue, primarily in France as well as ongoing weakness in our e-commerce business, EMP. Licensing revenue increased 3%, driven primarily by activity in Japan and the US partially offset by timing of legal settlements.

藝術家服務和擴大權利收入下降 6%，原因是音樂會推廣收入下降（主要是在法國），以及我們的電子商務業務 EMP 持續疲軟。授權收入成長 3%，主要受到日本和美國活動的推動，但部分被法律和解的時間所抵銷。

Recorded Music adjusted OIBDA increased 1% with a margin of 23%, an increase of 10 basis points Music Publishing total revenue increased 3%, while Streaming revenue increased 2% due to the impact of digital deal renewals, primarily in the US. We have a tough comparison against the prior year quarter, which saw robust Streaming revenue growth of 29%.

錄製音樂調整後的 OIBDA 成長 1%，利潤率為 23%，成長 10 個基點；音樂出版總收入成長 3%，而串流媒體收入成長 2%，主要原因是受到數位交易續約的影響，主要是在美國。我們與去年同期進行了嚴格的比較，去年同期的串流媒體收入強勁成長了 29%。

Performance revenue grew 6% and driven by an increase in concerts, radio and live events, primarily outside the US. Sync revenue increased 2% and due to higher TV and commercial licensing activity and Mechanical revenue increased 14% due to higher physical sales.

演出收入成長了 6%，主要得益於美國以外地區的音樂會、廣播和現場活動的成長。由於電視和商業授權活動的增加，同步收入增加了 2%，由於實體銷售的增加，機械收入增加了 14%。

Music Publishing adjusted OIBDA increased 5% with a margin of 27.4%, an uptick of 50 basis points. Q2 operating cash flow increased to $69 million from a use of $31 million in the prior year quarter. The increase was primarily due to timing of working capital items. Operating cash flow conversion was 23% of adjusted OIBDA.

音樂出版調整後的 OIBDA 成長 5%，利潤率為 27.4%，上升了 50 個基點。第二季營運現金流從去年同期的 3,100 萬美元增至 6,900 萬美元。成長的主要原因是營運資本項目的時間安排。經營現金流量轉換率為調整後 OIBDA 的 23%。

Free cash flow increased to $33 million from a use of $57 million in the prior year quarter. As of March 31, we had a cash balance of $637 million, total debt of $4.3 billion and net debt of $3.7 billion. Total debt includes approximately $300 million related to our acquisition of Tempo. Our weighted average cost of debt was 4.1% and our nearest maturity date remains 2028.

自由現金流從去年同期的 5,700 萬美元增至 3,300 萬美元。截至 3 月 31 日，我們的現金餘額為 6.37 億美元，總債務為 43 億美元，淨債務為 37 億美元。總債務包括與我們收購 Tempo 有關的約 3 億美元。我們的加權平均債務成本為 4.1%，最近的到期日仍為 2028 年。

As I wrap up, I'd like to welcome Armin and thank Robert, our Board, and everyone at Warner Music Group, especially our global finance team. I'm also grateful to everyone in the investment community who supports and follows Warner Music Group so thoughtfully.

最後，我要歡迎阿明，並感謝羅伯特、我們的董事會以及華納音樂集團的所有人，特別是我們的全球財務團隊。也感謝投資界各位朋友對華納音樂集團的鼎力支持與關注。

It's been a pleasure working with you. With that, we will take your questions.

很高興和你一起工作。我們將回答您的問題。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員指示）

Michael Morris, Guggenheim Securities.

古根漢證券公司的麥可‧莫里斯。

Thank you. Good morning. I want to ask a big picture question to start, Robert. Given the challenging quarter that we had in the little visibility, what confidence can you give investors to reinforce why do you think Warner Music remains attractively positioned with an opportunity to return on a path to the growth goals that you have put out?

謝謝。早安.首先我想問一個宏觀問題，羅伯特。鑑於我們在可見度不高的情況下所面臨的充滿挑戰的季度，您能給投資者什麼樣的信心來強調為什麼您認為華納音樂仍然具有吸引力，並有機會重回您制定的增長目標之路？

And maybe if I could ask just one follow-up as well. Can you give us an update of how you're thinking about subscription streaming growth for the year at this point relative to the high single digits? And how much intra-quarter volatility should investors be considering given release slate timing? Thank you, appreciate it.

或許我也可以問一個後續問題。您能否向我們介紹一下，相對於目前較高的個位數成長，您對今年的訂閱串流媒體成長有何看法？考慮到發佈時間，投資人應該考慮多少季度內的波動？謝謝，感激不盡。

Thank you, Michael. So the reason we're excited, and we believe all investors should be excited is our strategy is -- I spoke about our strategy on the last earnings call, which has three pillars to grow market share, grow the value of music with our ESPs and grow efficiency so that we can free up more capital to reinvest into music and tech so that we can spend the flywheel for long-term profitable growth.

謝謝你，麥可。因此，我們感到興奮，我們相信所有投資者都應該感到興奮，因為我們的策略是——我在上次財報電話會議上談到了我們的策略，該策略有三大支柱：擴大市場份額、透過我們的 ESP 增加音樂價值以及提高效率，以便我們可以釋放更多資本重新投資於音樂和技術，這樣我們就可以利用飛輪實現長期盈利增長。

That's exactly what we've been doing. We have increased our A&R spend last year from the proceeds that we freed up and we've done exactly the same in this fiscal year. And our investments in that area are starting to show early signs of success. I'll give you -- I'll give you a couple of examples.

這正是我們一直在做的事。去年，我們利用釋放的收益增加了 A&R 支出，本財年我們也做了同樣的事情。我們在該領域的投資已開始顯現成功的跡象。我會給你——我會給你舉幾個例子。

One, during my remarks, I mentioned our charts success, which is the biggest in a very, very long time. On Spotify Global 200 in the last two years, we're up 50% in our chart share, which is incredible. In Spotify Global Daily today, yesterday, we have five of the top 10. Same on the Billboard chart. And then on Spotify US Daily, we have 6 of top 10.

首先，我在演講中提到了我們在排行榜上的成功，這是很長一段時間以來最大的成功。在過去兩年的 Spotify Global 200 名單中，我們的份額增加了 50%，這真是令人難以置信。在今天和昨天的 Spotify Global Daily 中，我們有 5 首歌曲進入前 10 名。公告牌排行榜上的情況也一樣。然後在 Spotify US Daily 上，我們有 6 首排名前 10 的歌曲。

So clearly, our investments into A&R into artists and artist songwriter development as well as into our superstars is yielding hits and I'm really excited that the creative engine of the company is humming. It's also starting to translate into new release market share in the US, for example. Obviously, the biggest market -- it's the home of our largest divisions, Warner Records and Atlantic and seeing the early signs of success in growing market share of new releases is very, very encouraging.

顯然，我們對 A&R、藝術家和藝術家詞曲作者發展以及我們的超級明星的投資正在產生效果，我真的很高興公司的創意引擎正在嗡嗡作響。例如，它也開始轉化為美國新發行電影的市場份額。顯然，最大的市場——它是我們最大的部門華納唱片和大西洋唱片的所在地，看到新專輯市場份額不斷增長的成功早期跡象非常令人鼓舞。

And we have to make sure that we sharpen our executional focus to make sure we do the same thing across the entire business. The second early sign is also on technology. Yesterday, we rolled out an app called WMG Pulse, which is the copilot for artists careers, which is giving them lots of transactional data about their albums, streams, audiences, and money.

我們必須確保加強執行重點，以確保整個業務都做同樣的事情。第二個早期跡像也與技術有關。昨天，我們推出了一款名為 WMG Pulse 的應用程序，它是藝術家職業生涯的副駕駛，為他們提供有關他們的專輯、串流媒體、觀眾和金錢的大量交易數據。

And it's a result of a lot of infrastructure work that we've done in terms of investing into our digital supply chain, financial transformation and data infrastructure to collect tremendous amount of data and process it in a simple and easy-to-use way.

這是我們在基礎設施建設方面所做的大量工作的結果，我們在數位供應鏈、金融轉型和數據基礎設施方面進行了投資，以收集大量數據並以簡單易用的方式進行處理。

And what we will do is we'll continue to roll out to more and more artists and songwriters, and we will continue to add a lot of features to this. So this is just the beginning of where this will go. So it's a new surface for us to interact with artists. So all of that together is -- that's our strategy. We're executing against it. We have to sharpen our focus on execution even more. And as to your second question, as it relates to this year, we expect similar trends as in Q2 for the balance of the year.

我們將繼續向越來越多的藝術家和詞曲作者推出此功能，並將繼續為其添加許多功能。所以這只是事情發展的開始。所以這是我們與藝術家互動的新平台。所以，所有這些加在一起就是──這就是我們的策略。我們正在執行這一目標。我們必須更加重視執行。至於您的第二個問題，就今年而言，我們預計今年餘下的趨勢將與第二季類似。

Benjamin Black, Deutsche Bank.

班傑明·布萊克，德意志銀行。

Great. Good morning. Thank you for taking my questions, Robert. So from the outside looking in, it appears that at least some of the heavy lift has been completed as it pertains to your deals with some of your larger distribution partners, at least here in the near term.

偉大的。早安.感謝您回答我的問題，羅伯特。因此，從外部來看，至少在短期內，您與一些較大的分銷合作夥伴的交易中的一些重擔已經完成。

And if I'm wrong here, certainly, please correct me, but I'd be interested if you could dig a little bit more into sort of your strategy to grow global market share. How do you think about scaling your presence in the faster growing emerging markets? And how do you bring some of the success you're clearly seeing here in the US across your sort of global footprint?

如果我錯了，當然，請糾正我，但如果您能更深入地探討您擴大全球市場份額的策略，我會很感興趣。您如何考慮擴大您在快速成長的新興市場中的影響力？您如何將在美國的成功推廣到全球各地？

And then secondly, just on subscription streaming, just a quick clarification question. Curious to hear what exactly happened in China? Was it just release slate driven? And can you maybe expand upon sort of exactly what happened there and how big the impact was? And will that persist for the balance of the year as well? Thank you.

其次，關於訂閱串流媒體，我只想快速澄清一個問題。好奇心想知道中國到底發生了什麼事嗎？這只是由發布日程決定的嗎？您能否詳細說明一下那裡到底發生了什麼以及影響有多大？這種狀況在今年餘下時間還會持續下去嗎？謝謝。

Sure. Thank you. So yes, indeed, it's a heavy lift, as you said. And it's a stated strategy to increase the value of music through greater certainty around rates and alignment with our biggest partners. As I said last time, we've been making great progress on it. Our job isn't done yet we continue to work through it. And also, as we achieve it, it takes time for you to percolate through the agreements and go into effect, but it is a core pillar of our strategy, and we're executing against it.

當然。謝謝。是的，正如你所說，這確實是一項艱鉅的任務。這是一項明確的策略，即透過更確定的價格以及與我們最大的合作夥伴保持一致來提高音樂的價值。正如我上次所說，我們在這方面取得了巨大進展。我們的工作尚未完成，我們會繼續努力。而且，當我們實現這一目標時，您需要時間來理解協議並使其生效，但這是我們策略的核心支柱，我們正在按照它執行。

And we're very encouraged by the collaborative nature with some of our largest partners. As it relates to developing markets, we have some great success, great leadership in places like Mexico and Brazil, two of the top 10 global markets and also high-growth markets.

我們與一些最大的合作夥伴的合作性質讓我們感到非常鼓舞。就發展中市場而言，我們在墨西哥和巴西等地取得了巨大成功，佔據著重要的領導地位。這兩個市場是全球十大市場之一，也是高成長市場。

So we've been doing a great job driving growth over there. And we have some more opportunities in other parts of the world. You're asking specifically about China. That is a big opportunity. Obviously, we have a new Head of Asia starting in two months, who will play a pivotal role in helping us drive growth around the largest markets in Asia. And in terms of the current impact from China, we expect the same trend to continue for the balance of the year.

因此，我們在推動那裡的成長方面做得很好。我們在世界其他地方還有更多機會。您具體問的是有關中國的問題。這是一個很大的機會。顯然，我們將在兩個月後迎來一位新的亞洲區主管，他將在幫助我們推動亞洲最大市場的成長方面發揮關鍵作用。就目前中國的影響而言，我們預計今年剩餘時間同樣的趨勢仍將持續。

Kutgun Maral, Evercore ISI.

Kutgun Maral，Evercore ISI。

Good morning, and thanks for taking the question. And sorry for all the focus on subscription streaming, but maybe if we kind of take a step back away from this year, I think there's a lot of excitement around the DSP renewals and how they would flow through. And now maybe it seems like more of a calendar '26 benefit, maybe I'm wrong on that.

早上好，感謝您回答這個問題。很抱歉，我們一直在關注訂閱串流媒體，但如果我們稍微回顧一下今年的情況，我認為 DSP 續訂以及它們的流程會引發很多興奮。現在也許它看起來更像是日曆 26 的福利，也許我錯了。

But can you flesh out how to think about the timing of the flow-through of those renewals and how they -- when we could start to see them benefit the subscription streamline for you? And yes, maybe I'll just leave it at that.

但是，您能否詳細說明如何考慮這些續訂流程的時間以及它們如何——何時我們才能開始看到它們為您的訂閱流程帶來好處？是的，也許我就到此為止了。

Yeah, sure, obviously I cannot go into the details of the of the agreements, but I would say through your questions you can nail the answer. The most clear way to say it. And there's obviously still more work to do.

是的，當然，顯然我無法詳細說明協議的細節，但我想說，透過你的問題，你可以找到答案。用最清楚的方式表達。顯然還有更多工作要做。

Understood. Thank you.

明白了。謝謝。

Batya Levi, UBS.

瑞銀的 Batya Levi。

Great, thank you. Can you provide a little bit more color on what change versus your original expectation for high single digit subscription growth? Is it mostly impact from China had you assumed that you would we would have some price increases, and I know that you don't disclose core growth, but tough comps is a major driver of that.

太好了，謝謝。您能否詳細說明一下與您最初預期的個位數高訂閱量成長相比有哪些變化？如果您認為價格會上漲，那麼這主要是否主要受到中國的影響？我知道您沒有透露核心成長情況，但強勁的可比較數據是主要推動因素。

If you didn't have that situation, what would be the run rate growth that we would see in subscription, and maybe just one more on the lighter release slate. Is that lighter than you had originally expected because I thought you were originally thinking that it would be a more linear release schedule going forward and not fluctuate as much as in the past? Thank you.

如果沒有這種情況，我們在訂閱方面會看到的運行率增長是多少，也許只是在較輕的發布計劃中再增加一個。這是否比您最初預期的要輕，因為我認為您最初認為未來的發佈時間表會更加線性，而不會像過去那樣波動？謝謝。

Sure, thank you. So there's a -- our results are basically compounded through four different things. One, which is the top comps that you mentioned from last year, and I'll let Bryan chime on that later to answer your question. Two, pressure in the market. Three, the lighter release schedule that you mentioned, and weakness in China.

當然，謝謝。因此，我們的結果基本上是透過四種不同的因素綜合起來得出的。第一，這是您提到的去年的頂級比賽，稍後我會讓布萊恩就此發表意見來回答您的問題。二、市場壓力。第三，您提到的發布計劃較輕，以及中國市場的疲軟。

Those four compounded to the results that we're currently seeing. As it relates to the slate, obviously we always plan for growth and, sometimes, you have shifts for different creative reasons with different artists, different life situations, et cetera, that may impact the volume that's coming out. Albums maybe shifted out of quarters, et cetera. So it's a bit of an ebb and flow that simply happens and, so it is something that we're used to and it is harder to predict. But it is part of our life.

這四個因素共同導致了我們目前所看到的結果。就作品而言，顯然我們總是在為成長做計劃，有時，你會因為不同的創作原因、不同的藝術家、不同的生活狀況等而做出改變，這可能會影響即將推出的作品數量。專輯也許會被轉移出各個角落，等等。所以，這就像是一種自然發生的潮起潮落，這是我們習以為常的事情，很難預測。但它是我們生活的一部分。

Yeah. Batya, thanks. Just on a tough comp, it was 13.5% prior year quarter, so we did expect some desal and you know we've also stopped talking about BMP and normalizing, but that would have been a point here in this quarter as well.

是的。Batya，謝謝。僅從嚴格的比較來看，去年同期的成長率為 13.5%，因此我們確實預計會出現一些淡化，而且您知道我們也已經停止談論 BMP 和正常化，但這也將是本季度的一個重點。

Thank you.

謝謝。

David Karnovsky, JPMorgan.

摩根大通的戴維卡諾夫斯基。

Hi, this is Kiscada Hastings on for David Karnovsky. I just wanted to ask a little bit about management at some of the labels. So it seems like you have some two different philosophies at your flagship labels now with Aaron Bay-Schuck at Warner, who seems to have more of a long-form and deliberate approach to artist management and Elliot Grainge in Atlantic now, who seems to be pretty good at quickly identifying and blowing up artists. Is this the right way to understand it? And how do you think the structure will help drive market share growth going forward for WMG as a whole?

大家好，我是 Kiscada Hastings，為 David Karnovsky 主持節目。我只是想問一些關於一些唱片公司的管理問題。因此，現在您的旗艦唱片公司似乎有兩種不同的理念：華納的 Aaron Bay-Schuck 似乎對藝術家管理採取了更為長期和深思熟慮的方法；而大西洋唱片的 Elliot Grainge 似乎非常擅長快速識別和發掘藝術家。這樣理解正確嗎？您認為該結構將如何幫助推動 WMG 整體的市場份額成長？

Yeah, so I would say, one, as a company, we have to walk and chew gum at the same time. And it is -- there are different ways to succeed in the market. And I am actually very pleased that we don't have just a singular approach to our business, that we have talent that has different strengths. You've highlighted some of those, but it doesn't mean -- for instance, in case of Elliott, that is all inclusively focused on quick hit.

是的，所以我想說，首先，作為一家公司，我們必須一邊前進，一邊嚼口香糖。確實如此——在市場上取得成功的方法有很多。事實上，我很高興我們的業務方法並不單一，我們擁有具有不同優勢的人才。您已經強調了其中的一些，但這並不意味著——例如，在埃利奧特的案例中，一切都集中在快速打擊上。

Elliott is also very much focused on artist development. And we are working much, much closer together as a leadership team across all the operators so that people also are sharing insights, not just competing with each other, but actually sharing insights together so that as a whole, as a company we do better. So I think this is exactly the kind of mix of executives we need.

艾利歐特也非常注重藝術家的發展。我們作為所有營運商的領導團隊，正在更加緊密地合作，以便人們能夠分享見解，不僅僅是相互競爭，而是真正地一起分享見解，這樣作為一個整體，作為一個公司，我們才能做得更好。所以我認為這正是我們所需要的高階主管組合。

Okay, cool, thank you.

好的，太棒了，謝謝。

Stephen Laszczyk, Goldman Sachs.

高盛的史蒂芬‧拉什奇克 (Stephen Laszczyk)。

Great, good morning. Thanks for taking the questions. Robert, could you perhaps talk a little bit more about the investments you're making in A&R? I'm curious what genres or markets you see the most opportunity in.

太好了，早安。感謝您回答這些問題。羅伯特，您能否再多談談您在 A&R 所做的投資？我很好奇您認為哪些類型或市場最有機會。

Maybe how should we think about any near-term long-term goals you have on market share for Warner? And then to what extent could we expect A&R expense to increase, I think you mentioned up more than double digits last year. Any context there would be helpful. And then maybe related to that for Bryan, I'd be curious just to get your latest thoughts on puts and takes on the outlook for margins this year, cost efficiency as the A&R investment and then FX, which I know has been moving a bit in both directions, we're just curious of any thoughts you have on that front. Thank you.

也許我們該如何看待您對華納市佔率的近期長期目標？那我們預期 A&R 費用會增加到什麼程度呢？我想您提到去年增加了兩位數以上。任何背景資訊都會有幫助。然後也許與布萊恩有關，我很好奇，只是想了解您對今年利潤前景、A&R 投資的成本效率以及外匯的最新看法，我知道這兩個方面都在朝著兩個方向發展，我們只是好奇您在這方面有什麼想法。謝謝。

Sounds good. Thanks, Stephen. So let me take the first one on the investment focus. What we've been spending a lot of time on capital allocation. And by the way, also with Armin starting, we'll also continue to do that over the next quarter and make sure we really sharpen our focus on that.

聽起來不錯。謝謝，史蒂芬。那麼，我先來談談投資重點。我們在資本配置上花費了大量時間。順便說一句，隨著阿明的開始，我們也將在下個季度繼續這樣做，並確保我們真正將注意力集中在這一點上。

And the best way to think about it is that we evaluate the world based on global value of local repertoire and think about where we get the most bang for the buck in the near and the long term. And so there's two different ways to look at the world, country lens or repertoire lens, and we're starting to shift between more towards the repertoire lens. So that really drives how we think about the world, how we think about resourcing, and how we think about a more sharpened capital allocation.

思考這個問題的最佳方式是，我們根據當地曲目的全球價值來評估世界，並思考在短期和長期內如何獲得最大的收益。因此，有兩種不同的方式看待世界，即國家視角或曲目視角，而我們開始更多地轉向曲目視角。這確實影響著我們如何看待世界、如何看待資源配置以及如何看待更精準的資本配置。

And Stephen, it's Bryan. On margins, in the quarter, what we pointed to was the revenue mix. The lower streaming growth, of course, translated to lower margin for us. And just to point out, if you exclude BMG, our physical was up 15%, which was a bright spot. But again, that comes at a lower margin. And then on the cost side, there were a couple of things that create some quarter-to-quarter variability.

史蒂芬，我是布萊恩。關於利潤率，在本季度，我們關注的是收入組合。當然，串流媒體成長放緩意味著我們的利潤率下降。需要指出的是，如果不包括 BMG，我們的實體量增加了 15%，這是一個亮點。但同樣，利潤率較低。然後在成本方面，有幾個因素造成了季度間的差異。

We mentioned the continued reinvestment in tech, including the launch of the app and as well, we continue to point to investing into A&R. Even though you will see overall that was down slightly within it, our unproven A&R was up modestly in dollar terms, more than double digits percentage terms, and that unproven gets expensed to the P&L.

我們提到了對技術的持續再投資，包括應用程式的推出，同時，我們繼續指出對 A&R 的投資。儘管你會看到整體上它略有下降，但我們未經證實的 A&R 以美元計算卻小幅上漲，百分比超過了兩位數，而且未經證實的 A&R 被計入了損益表。

So those created some margin headwinds. FX, as you know, was a significant headwind in Q1. Some of that did come back in Q2. But at this time, it's too early to update on any guidance. And as we said, Armin started this week, and we will come back to you on the next call with an update.

因此，這些因素對利潤率造成了一些阻力。如您所知，外匯是第一季的一大阻力。其中一些確實在第二季度恢復了。但目前更新任何指導都還為時過早。正如我們所說，阿明已於本週開始工作，我們將在下次通話中向您通報最新情況。

Thank you.

謝謝。

This concludes the question-and-answer session. I'll turn the call to Robert Kyncl for closing remarks.

問答環節到此結束。我將請羅伯特‧金克爾 (Robert Kyncl) 致閉幕詞。

All right. So thank you all for dialing in, paying attention to our company. I want to reiterate that our strategy, we firmly believe in the strategy that we set ourselves on growing market share, growing the value of music and growing efficiency to reinvest in music and technology and drive long-term profitable growth and the early signs of success through our chart share success on a global level as well as US level and then in markets around the world are very, very encouraging and as well as our growing market share in the United States and new releases.

好的。非常感謝大家撥入電話並關注我們的公司。我想重申我們的策略，我們堅信我們制定的策略是增加市場份額，增加音樂價值，提高效率，對音樂和技術進行再投資，推動長期盈利增長，我們在全球和美國排行榜上的成功以及世界各地市場取得的早期成功跡象非常令人鼓舞，我們在美國和新專輯發行的市場份額也在不斷增長。

So and I'm very pleased that we're starting to ship technology products into the hands of artists and songwriters who start paying back on some of our investments in technology and to transform the company. So thank you so much, and we'll talk to you next quarter.

因此，我很高興我們開始將技術產品交付到藝術家和詞曲作者的手中，他們開始回報我們在技術方面的一些投資並改變公司。非常感謝您，我們下個季度再與您聯繫。

This concludes today's conference call. Thank you for joining. You may now disconnect.

今天的電話會議到此結束。感謝您的加入。您現在可以斷開連線。