Warner: Digital Sales Climb, but Losses Continue

Warner Music Group this week confirmed rising digital sales, though still returned a loss for the quarter.

The label's quarterly revenue climbed 2 per cent to $800 million, returning losses of $34 million on the quarter. While continuing to bleed profits, the company did announce its music business declined by under 1 per cent, but the main strength of its story lay in its digital sales.

Digital revenues climbed 47.6 per cent to $155 million, representing 23.8 per cent of total music revenues. Digital growth accelerated from last quarter, when it climbed 41 per cent.

Speaking to analysts after the event, company CEO Edgar Bronfman mentioned strong sales through iTunes, but focused on Amazon MP3, MySpace Music and the growing power of social networks as representing strong future opportunities for music sales.