Warner Music Group owns Atlantic Records, Warner Records, and Elektra - a catalog including Led Zeppelin, Ed Sheeran, Bruno Mars, and Coldplay. As music streaming grows globally, labels collect royalties from Spotify, Apple Music, and YouTube. WMG's catalog is a perpetual royalty-generating asset.
Warner Music Group licenses its catalog of recorded music and publishing rights to Apple Music, which streams WMG artists to Apple Music's approximately 90M subscribers globally. Apple Music launched in June 2015 and WMG was one of the three major label partners at launch alongside Universal Music Group and Sony Music. Apple Music is the world's second-largest music streaming service by subscribers.
Why it matters: WMG's streaming revenue, which includes Apple Music royalties, represents over 60% of its total recorded music revenue and has been the primary driver of the music industry's recovery since 2015. Apple Music's per-stream payout rates are generally higher than Spotify's, making it a preferred platform for labels focused on revenue quality over volume.
Relationships are compiled by VexMap from company filings, announcements and reporting, and last reviewed September 2026. Spotted something wrong? Tell us. Not investment advice.