UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

 

FORM 10-Q

 

(Mark One)

For the quarterly period ended March 31, 2015

OR

Commission File Number 001-32502

 

Warner Music Group Corp.

(Exact name of Registrant as specified in its charter)

 

 

1633 Broadway

New York, NY 10019

(Address of principal executive offices)

(212) 275-2000

(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code)

 

Indicate by check mark whether the Registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the Registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days.    Yes  ¨    No  x

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically and posted on its corporate Web site, if any, every Interactive Data File required to be submitted and posted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit and post such files).    Yes  x    No  ¨

Indicate by check mark whether the Registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer or a smaller reporting company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer”, “accelerated filer” and “smaller reporting company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

 

Indicate by check mark whether the Registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.)    Yes  ¨    No   x

There is no public market for the Registrant’s common stock. As of May 11, 2015 the number of shares of the Registrant’s common stock, par value $0.001 per share, outstanding was 1,055. All of the Registrant’s common stock is owned by affiliates of Access Industries, Inc. The Registrant has filed all Exchange Act reports for the preceding 12 months.

 

 

 

 

 

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WARNER MUSIC GROUP CORP.

INDEX

 

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Warner Music Group Corp.

Consolidated Balance Sheets (Unaudited)

 

See accompanying notes

 

 

 

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Warner Music Group Corp.

Consolidated Statements of Operations (Unaudited)

 

See accompanying notes

 

 

 

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Warner Music Group Corp.

Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Loss (Unaudited)

 

See accompanying notes

 

 

 

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Warner Music Group Corp.

Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows (Unaudited)

 

See accompanying notes

 

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Warner Music Group Corp.

Consolidated Statements of Equity (Unaudited)

 

See accompanying notes

 

 

 

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Warner Music Group Corp.

Notes to Consolidated Interim Financial Statements (Unaudited)

 

1. Description of Business

Warner Music Group Corp. (the “Company”) was formed on November 21, 2003. The Company is the direct parent of WMG Holdings Corp. (“Holdings”), which is the direct parent of WMG Acquisition Corp. (“Acquisition Corp.”). Acquisition Corp. is one of the world’s major music-based content companies.

Acquisition of Warner Music Group by Access Industries

Pursuant to an Agreement and Plan of Merger, dated as of May 6, 2011 (the “Merger Agreement”), by and among the Company, AI Entertainment Holdings LLC (formerly Airplanes Music LLC), a Delaware limited liability company (“Parent”) and an affiliate of Access Industries, Inc. (“Access”), and Airplanes Merger Sub, Inc., a Delaware corporation and a wholly owned subsidiary of Parent (“Merger Sub”), on July 20, 2011 (the “Merger Closing Date”) Merger Sub merged with and into the Company with the Company surviving as a wholly owned subsidiary of Parent (the “Merger”). In connection with the Merger, the Company delisted its common stock from the NYSE. The Company continues to file with the SEC current and periodic reports that would be required to be filed with the SEC pursuant to Section 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”) in accordance with certain covenants contained in the agreements governing its outstanding indebtedness.

Acquisition of Parlophone Label Group

On July 1, 2013, the Company completed its acquisition of Parlophone Label Group (the “PLG Acquisition”).

The Company classifies its business interests into two fundamental operations: Recorded Music and Music Publishing. A brief description of these operations is presented below.

Recorded Music Operations

The Company’s Recorded Music business primarily consists of the discovery and development of artists and the related marketing, distribution and licensing of recorded music produced by such artists. The Company plays an integral role in virtually all aspects of the recorded music value chain from discovering and developing talent to producing albums and promoting artists and their products.

In the United States, Recorded Music operations are conducted principally through the Company’s major record labels—Warner Bros. Records and Atlantic Records. The Company’s Recorded Music operations also include Rhino, a division that specializes in marketing the Company’s music catalog through compilations and reissuances of previously released music and video titles, as well as in the licensing of recordings to and from third parties for various uses, including film and television soundtracks. The Company also conducts its Recorded Music operations through a collection of additional record labels, including, Asylum, Big Beat, East West, Elektra, Erato, Fueled by Ramen, Nonesuch, Parlophone, Reprise, Roadrunner, Rykodisc, Sire, Warner Classics, Warner Music Nashville and Word.

Outside the United States, Recorded Music activities are conducted in more than 50 countries through various subsidiaries, affiliates and non-affiliated licensees. Internationally, the Company engages in the same activities as in the United States: discovering and signing artists and distributing, marketing and selling their recorded music. In most cases, the Company also markets and distributes the records of those artists for whom the Company’s domestic record labels have international rights. In certain smaller markets, the Company licenses the right to distribute the Company’s records to non-affiliated third-party record labels. The Company’s international artist services operations include a network of concert promoters through which it provides resources to coordinate tours for the Company’s artists and other artists as well as management companies that guide artists with respect to their careers.

The Company’s Recorded Music distribution operations include Warner-Elektra-Atlantic Corporation (“WEA Corp.”), which markets and sells music and video products to retailers and wholesale distributors; Alternative Distribution Alliance (“ADA”), which distributes the products of independent labels to retail and wholesale distributors; various distribution centers and ventures operated internationally; and an 80% interest in Word, which specializes in the distribution of music products in the Christian retail marketplace.

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In addition to the Company’s Recorded Music products being sold in physical retail outlets, Recorded Music products are also sold in physical form to online physical retailers such as Amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com and bestbuy.com and in digital form to online digital download services such as Apple’s iTunes and Google Play, and are offered by digital streaming services such as Beats Music, Deezer, Rhapsody, Spotify and YouTube, including digital radio services such as Pandora, iTunes Radio and iHeart Radio.

The Company has integrated the exploitation of digital content into all aspects of its business, including artist and repertoire (“A&R”), marketing, promotion and distribution. The Company’s business development executives work closely with A&R departments to ensure that while a record is being produced, digital assets are also created with all distribution channels in mind, including streaming services, social networking sites, online portals and music-centered destinations. The Company also works side-by-side with its online and mobile partners to test new concepts. The Company believes existing and new digital businesses will be a significant source of growth for at least the next several years and will provide new opportunities to successfully monetize its assets and create new revenue streams. The proportion of digital revenues attributed to each distribution channel varies by region and proportions may change as the roll out of new technologies continues. As an owner of music content, the Company believes it is well positioned to take advantage of growth in digital distribution and emerging technologies to maximize the value of its assets.

The Company is also diversifying its revenues beyond its traditional businesses by entering into expanded-rights deals with recording artists in order to partner with artists in other aspects of their careers. Under these agreements, the Company provides services to and participates in artists’ activities outside the traditional recorded music business. The Company has built artist services capabilities and platforms for exploiting this broader set of music-related rights and participating more widely in the monetization of the artist brands it helps create.

The Company believes that entering into artist services and expanded-rights deals and enhancing its artist services capabilities will permit it to diversify revenue streams and capitalize on revenue opportunities in merchandising, fan clubs, sponsorship, concert promotion and touring. This will provide for improved long-term relationships with artists and allow the Company to more effectively connect artists and fans.

Music Publishing Operations

While recorded music is focused on exploiting a particular recording of a composition, music publishing is an intellectual property business focused on the exploitation of the composition itself. In return for promoting, placing, marketing and administering the creative output of a songwriter, or engaging in those activities for other rightsholders, the Company’s Music Publishing business garners a share of the revenues generated from use of the composition.

The Company’s Music Publishing operations include Warner/Chappell, its global Music Publishing company, headquartered in Los Angeles with operations in over 50 countries through various subsidiaries, affiliates and non-affiliated licensees. The Company owns or controls rights to more than one million musical compositions, including numerous pop hits, American standards, folk songs and motion picture and theatrical compositions. Assembled over decades, its award-winning catalog includes over 65,000 songwriters and composers and a diverse range of genres including pop, rock, jazz, classical, country, R&B, hip-hop, rap, reggae, Latin, folk, blues, symphonic, soul, Broadway, techno, alternative, gospel and other Christian music. Warner/Chappell also administers the music and soundtracks of several third-party television and film producers and studios, including Lucasfilm, Ltd., Hallmark Entertainment and Disney Music Publishing. Through consistent and tactical talent investment, Warner Chappell has developed a broad array of talent across all genres, resulting in Warner/Chappell being awarded ASCAP’s Top Publisher of the Year for each of Pop, Country and Urban in 2014. The Company’s production music library business includes Non-Stop Music, Groove Addicts Production Music Library, Carlin Recorded Music Library, 615 Music and Frank Gari Productions and Gari Communications, collectively branded as Warner/Chappell Production Music.

 

 

2. Summary of Significant Accounting Policies

Interim Financial Statements

The accompanying unaudited consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States (“U.S. GAAP”) for interim financial information and with the instructions to Form 10-Q and Article 10 of Regulation S-X. Accordingly, they do not include all of the information and notes required by U.S. GAAP for complete financial statements. In the opinion of management, all adjustments (consisting of normal recurring accruals) considered necessary for a fair presentation have been included. Operating results for the three and six month periods ended March 31, 2015 are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2015.

The consolidated balance sheet at September 30, 2014 has been derived from the audited consolidated financial statements at that date but does not include all of the information and notes required by U.S. GAAP for complete financial statements.

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For further information, refer to the consolidated financial statements and notes thereto included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2014 (File No. 001-32502).   

Basis of Consolidation

The accompanying financial statements present the consolidated accounts of all entities in which the Company has a controlling voting interest and/or variable interest required to be consolidated in accordance with U.S. GAAP. All intercompany balances and transactions have been eliminated.

Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) Topic 810, Consolidation (“ASC 810”) requires the Company first evaluate its investments to determine if any investments qualify as a variable interest entity (“VIE”). A VIE is consolidated if the Company is deemed to be the primary beneficiary of the VIE, which is the party involved with the VIE that has both (i) the power to control the most significant activities of the VIE and (ii) either the obligation to absorb losses or the right to receive benefits that could potentially be significant to the VIE. If an entity is not deemed to be a VIE, the Company consolidates the entity if the Company has a controlling voting interest.

The Company maintains a 52-53 week fiscal year ending on the last Friday in each reporting period. As such, all references to March 31, 2015 and March 31, 2014 relate to the periods ended March 27, 2015 and March 28, 2014, respectively. For convenience purposes, the Company continues to date its financial statements as of March 31. The fiscal year ended September 30, 2014 ended on September 26, 2014. For convenience purposes, the Company continues to date its balance sheet as of September 30.

The Company has performed a review of all subsequent events through the date the financial statements were issued, and has determined that no additional disclosures are necessary.

New Accounting Pronouncements

During the first quarter of fiscal 2015, the Company adopted Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) 2013-11, Presentation of an Unrecognized Tax Benefit When a Net Operating Loss Carryforward, a Similar Tax Loss, or a Tax Credit Carryforward Exists (“ASU 2013-11”). ASU 2013-11 requires an unrecognized tax benefit, or a portion of an unrecognized tax benefit, to be presented in the financial statements as a reduction to a deferred tax asset for a net operating loss carryforward, a similar tax loss, or a tax credit carryforward. The adoption of this standard did not have an impact on the Company’s financial statements, other than presentation.

During the first quarter of fiscal 2015, the Company adopted ASU 2014-17, Business Combinations (Topic 805): Pushdown Accounting (“ASU 2014-17”). This ASU provides acquired entities the option to apply pushdown accounting in their separate financial statements when an acquirer obtains control of them. ASU 2014-17 was effective upon issuance. This election to apply pushdown accounting is made for each individual change-in-control event. The adoption of this standard did not have an impact on the Company’s financial statements.

In May 2014, the FASB issued guidance codified in ASC 606, Revenue Recognition – Revenue from Contracts with Customers (“ASC 606”), which replaces the guidance in former ASC 605, Revenue Recognition and ASC 928, Entertainment – Music. The amendment was the result of a joint effort by the FASB and the International Accounting Standards Board to improve financial reporting by creating common revenue recognition guidance for U.S. GAAP and international financial reporting standards ("IFRS"). The joint project clarifies the principles for recognizing revenue and develops a common revenue standard for U.S. GAAP and IFRS. ASC 606 is effective for annual periods beginning after December 15, 2016, and interim periods within those years. Early application is not permitted. The update may be applied using one of two methods: retrospective application to each prior reporting period presented, or retrospective application with the cumulative effect of initially applying the update recognized at the date of initial application. The Company is currently evaluating the transition method that will be elected and the impact of the update on its financial statements and disclosures.

In August 2014, the FASB issued ASU 2014-15, Disclosure of Uncertainties about an Entity’s Ability to Continue as a Going Concern (“ASU 2014-15”). This ASU will explicitly require management to assess an entity’s ability to continue as a going concern, and to provide related disclosure when substantial doubt exists. ASU 2014-15 will be effective in the first annual period ending after December 15, 2016, and interim periods thereafter. Earlier adoption is permitted. The adoption of this standard is not expected to have a significant impact on the Company’s financial statements, other than disclosure.

In April 2015, the FASB issued ASU 2015-03, Simplifying the Presentation of Debt Issuance Costs (“ASU 2015-03”). This ASU will require that debt issuance costs are presented as a direct deduction to the related debt in the liability section of the balance sheet, rather than presented as an asset. ASU 2015-03 will be effective for annual periods beginning after December 15, 2015, and interim periods within those years. Earlier adoption is permitted. The adoption of this standard is not expected to have a significant impact on the Company’s financial statements, other than presentation.

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3. Comprehensive Loss

Comprehensive loss, which is reported in the accompanying consolidated statements of equity, consists of net income (loss) and other gains and losses affecting equity that, under U.S. GAAP, are excluded from net income (loss). For the Company, the components of other comprehensive loss primarily consist of foreign currency translation losses and minimum pension liabilities. The following summary sets forth the changes in the components of accumulated other comprehensive loss, net of related taxes:

 

 

 

 

4. Goodwill and Intangible Assets

Goodwill

The following analysis details the changes in goodwill for each reportable segment:

 

 

Other adjustments during the six months ended March 31, 2015 represent foreign currency movements.

The Company performs its annual goodwill impairment test in accordance with FASB ASC Topic 350, Intangibles—Goodwill and other (“ASC 350”) during the fourth quarter of each fiscal year as of July 1. The Company may conduct an earlier review if events or circumstances occur that would suggest the carrying value of the Company’s goodwill may not be recoverable. No indicators of impairment were identified during the current period that required the Company to perform an interim assessment or recoverability test.

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Intangible Assets

Intangible assets consist of the following:

 

 

5. Debt

Debt Capitalization

Long-term debt, including the current portion, consists of the following:

 

 

    

Interest Rates

The loans under the Revolving Credit Facility bear interest at Acquisition Corp.’s election at a rate equal to (i) the rate for deposits in the borrowing currency in the London interbank market (adjusted for maximum reserves) for the applicable interest period (“Revolving LIBOR”), plus 2.00% per annum, or (ii) the base rate, which is the highest of (x) the corporate base rate established by the administrative agent from time to time, (y) 0.50% in excess of the overnight federal funds rate and (z) the one-month Revolving LIBOR plus 1.0% per annum, plus, in each case, 1.00% per annum. If there is a payment default at any time, then the interest rate applicable to overdue principal will be the rate otherwise applicable to such loan plus 2.0% per annum. Default interest will also be payable on other overdue amounts at a rate of 2.0% per annum above the amount that would apply to an alternative base rate loan.

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The loans under the Senior Term Loan Facility bear interest at Acquisition Corp.’s election at a rate equal to (i) the rate for deposits in U.S. dollars in the London interbank market (adjusted for maximum reserves) for the applicable interest period (“Term Loan LIBOR”), plus 2.75% per annum, or (ii) the base rate, which is the highest of (x) the corporate base rate established by the administrative agent as its prime rate in effect at its principal office in New York City from time to time, (y) 0.50% in excess of the overnight federal funds rate and (z) one-month Term Loan LIBOR, plus 1.00% per annum, plus, in each case, 1.75% per annum. The loans under the Senior Term Loan Facility are subject to a Term Loan LIBOR “floor” of 1.00%. If there is a payment default at any time, then the interest rate applicable to overdue principal and interest will be the rate otherwise applicable to such loan plus 2.0% per annum. Default interest will also be payable on other overdue amounts at a rate of 2.0% per annum above the amount that would apply to an alternative base rate loan.

Amortization and Maturity of Senior Term Loan Facility

The loans under the Senior Term Loan Facility amortize in equal quarterly installments due December, March, June and September in aggregate annual amounts equal to 1.00% of the original principal amount of the amended Senior Term Loan Facility, or $13 million per year, with the balance payable on maturity date of the Term Loans. The loans outstanding under the Senior Term Loan Facility mature on July 1, 2020.

Maturity of Revolving Credit Facility

The maturity date of the Revolving Credit Facility is April 1, 2019.

Maturities of Senior Notes and Senior Secured Notes

As of March 31, 2015, there are no scheduled maturities of notes until 2019, when $150 million is scheduled to mature. Thereafter, $1.557 billion is scheduled to mature.

Interest Expense, net

Total interest expense, net, was $45 million and $54 million for the three months ended March 31, 2015 and March 31, 2014, respectively. Total interest expense, net was $91 million and $109 million for the six months ended March 31, 2015 and March 31, 2014, respectively. The weighted-average interest rate of the Company’s total debt was 5.6% at March 31, 2015, 5.6% at September 30, 2014 and 6.9% at March 31, 2014.

 

6. Restructuring

In conjunction with the PLG Acquisition, the Company undertook a plan to achieve cost savings (the “Restructuring Plan”), primarily through headcount reductions. The Restructuring Plan was approved by the CEO prior to the close of the PLG Acquisition. Under the Restructuring Plan, the Company currently expects to record an aggregate of approximately $75 million in restructuring costs, currently estimated to be made up of employee-related costs of $68 million, real estate costs of $5 million and other costs of $2 million. Total restructuring costs of $1 million consisting of employee-related costs were incurred in the three months ended March 31, 2015 with respect to these actions. Total restructuring costs of $17 million were incurred in the three months ended March 31, 2014 with respect to these actions, which consisted of $15 million of employee-related costs, $1 million of real estate costs and $1 million of other costs. Total restructuring costs of $2 million were incurred in the six months ended March 31, 2015 with respect to these actions, which consist of $1 million of employee-related costs and $1 million of real estate costs. Total restructuring costs of $24 million were incurred in the six months ended March 31, 2014 with respect to these actions, which consist of $22 million of employee-related costs, $1 million of real estate costs and $1 million of other costs. Total restructuring costs to date under the Restructuring Plan are $74 million, including total cash payments of $70 million. The remainder of the Restructuring Plan is expected to be completed by the end of fiscal 2015.

Total restructuring activity is as follows:

 

 

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The restructuring accrual is recorded in other current liabilities on the consolidated balance sheet. These balances reflect estimated future cash outlays.

A summary of the charges in the consolidated statements of operations resulting from the Restructuring Plan is shown below:

 

 

All of the above expenses were recorded in the Recorded Music reportable segment.

 

7. Commitments and Contingencies

Pricing of Digital Music Downloads

On December 20, 2005 and February 3, 2006, the Attorney General of the State of New York served the Company with requests for information in connection with an industry-wide investigation as to the pricing of digital music downloads. On February 28, 2006, the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice served us with a Civil Investigative Demand, also seeking information relating to the pricing of digitally downloaded music. Both investigations were ultimately closed, but subsequent to the announcements of the investigations, more than thirty putative class action lawsuits were filed concerning the pricing of digital music downloads. The lawsuits were consolidated in the Southern District of New York. The consolidated amended complaint, filed on April 13, 2007, alleges conspiracy among record companies to delay the release of their content for digital distribution, inflate their pricing of CDs and fix prices for digital downloads. The complaint seeks unspecified compensatory, statutory and treble damages. On October 9, 2008, the District Court issued an order dismissing the case as to all defendants, including us. However, on January 12, 2010, the Second Circuit vacated the judgment of the District Court and remanded the case for further proceedings and on January 10, 2011, the Supreme Court denied the defendants’ petition for Certiorari.

Upon remand to the District Court, all defendants, including the Company, filed a renewed motion to dismiss challenging, among other things, plaintiffs’ state law claims and standing to bring certain claims. The renewed motion was based mainly on arguments made in defendants’ original motion to dismiss, but not addressed by the District Court. On July 18, 2011, the District Court granted defendants’ motion in part, and denied it in part. Notably, all claims on behalf of the CD-purchaser class were dismissed with prejudice. However, a wide variety of state and federal claims remain for the class of internet download purchasers. Plaintiffs filed an operative consolidated amended complaint on August 31, 2011. Pursuant to the terms of an August 15, 2011 stipulation and order, the case is currently in discovery. Disputes regarding the scope of discovery are ongoing. Plaintiffs filed a Class Certification brief on March 14, 2014. The Company’s reply date has not yet been set. The Company intends to defend against these lawsuits vigorously, but is unable to predict the outcome of these suits. Regardless of the merits of the claims, this and any related litigation could continue to be costly, and divert the time and resources of management. The potential outcomes of these claims that are reasonably possible cannot be determined at this time and an estimate of the reasonably possible loss or range of loss cannot presently be made.

Music Download Putative Class Action Suits

Five putative class action lawsuits have been filed against the Company in Federal Court in the Northern District of California between February 2, 2012 and March 10, 2012. The lawsuits, which were brought by various recording artists, all allege that the Company has improperly calculated the royalties due to them for certain digital music sales under the terms of their recording contracts. The named plaintiffs purport to raise these claims on their own behalf and, as a putative class action, on behalf of other similarly situated artists. Plaintiffs base their claims on a previous ruling that held another recorded music company had breached the specific recording contracts at issue in that case through its payment of royalties for music downloads and ringtones. In the wake of that ruling, a number of recording artists have initiated suits seeking similar relief against all of the major record companies, including us. Plaintiffs seek to have the interpretation of the contracts in that prior case applied to their different and separate contracts.

On April 10, 2012, the Company filed a motion to dismiss various claims in one of the lawsuits, with the intention of filing similar motions in the remaining suits, on the various applicable response dates. Meanwhile, certain plaintiffs’ counsel moved to be appointed as interim lead counsel, and other plaintiffs’ counsel moved to consolidate the various actions. In a June 1, 2012 order, the court consolidated the cases and appointed interim co-lead class counsel. Plaintiffs filed a consolidated, master complaint on August 21, 2012.

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On December 31, 2013, Plaintiffs filed a Motion for Preliminary Approval of Class Action Settlement. On January 23, 2014, the Court granted preliminary approval of the settlement. As part of the settlement, the Company will make available $11.5 million (less attorneys’ fees, costs, and costs of claims administration and class notice) to compensate class members for past sales of downloads and ringtones. Class members had until May 31, 2014 to file claims, opt-out or object to the Class Action Settlement. No class members made perfected objections to the settlement.  Plaintiffs filed their motion for final approval of the Settlement Agreement on November 26, 2014.  On January 12, 2015, the Judge granted final approval of the settlement.  The settlement became effective on February 25, 2015, after a 30-day appeals period. The Company is currently implementing the terms of the settlement. The Company has recorded what it believes is an appropriate reserve related to these cases, which amount is not material.

Other Matters

In addition to the matters discussed above, the Company is involved in various litigation and regulatory proceedings arising in the normal course of business. Where it is determined, in consultation with counsel based on litigation and settlement risks, that a loss is probable and estimable in a given matter, the Company establishes an accrual. In none of the currently pending proceedings is the amount of accrual material. An estimate of the reasonably possible loss or range of loss in excess of the amounts already accrued cannot be made at this time due to various factors typical in contested proceedings, including (1) the results of ongoing discovery; (2) uncertain damage theories and demands; (3) a less than complete factual record; (4) uncertainty concerning legal theories and their resolution by courts or regulators; and (5) the unpredictable nature of the opposing party and its demands. However, the Company cannot predict with certainty the outcome of any litigation or the potential for future litigation. As such, the Company continuously monitors these proceedings as they develop and adjusts any accrual or disclosure as needed. Regardless of the outcome, litigation could have an adverse impact on the Company, including the Company’s brand value, because of defense costs, diversion of management resources and other factors and it could have a material effect on the Company’s results of operations for a given reporting period.

 

8. Segment Information

As discussed more fully in Note 1, based on the nature of its products and services, the Company classifies its business interests into two fundamental operations: Recorded Music and Music Publishing, which also represent the reportable segments of the Company. Information as to each of these operations is set forth below. The Company evaluates performance based on several factors, of which the primary financial measure is operating income (loss) before non-cash depreciation of tangible assets and non-cash amortization of intangible assets (“OIBDA”). The Company has supplemented its analysis of OIBDA results by segment with an analysis of operating income (loss) by segment.

The accounting policies of the Company’s business segments are the same as those described in the summary of significant accounting policies included elsewhere herein. The Company accounts for intersegment sales at fair value as if the sales were to third parties. While intercompany transactions are treated like third-party transactions to determine segment performance, the revenues (and corresponding expenses recognized by the segment that is counterparty to the transaction) are eliminated in consolidation, and therefore, do not themselves impact consolidated results.

 

 

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9. Additional Financial Information

Cash Interest and Taxes

The Company made interest payments of approximately $31 million and $33 million during the three months ended March 31, 2015 and March 31, 2014, respectively. The Company made interest payments of approximately $87 million and $101 million during the six months ended March 31, 2015 and March 31, 2014, respectively. The Company paid approximately $7 million and $5 million of income and withholding taxes, net of refunds, during the three months ended March 31, 2015 and March 31, 2014, respectively. The Company paid approximately $6 million and $8 million of income and withholding taxes, net of refunds, during the six months ended March 31, 2015 and March 31, 2014, respectively.

 

10. Fair Value Measurements

ASC 820 defines fair value as the price that would be received upon sale of an asset or paid upon transfer of a liability in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date and in the principal or most advantageous market for that asset or liability. The fair value should be calculated based on assumptions that market participants would use in pricing the asset or liability, not on assumptions specific to the entity.

In addition to defining fair value, ASC 820 expands the disclosure requirements around fair value and establishes a fair value hierarchy for valuation inputs. The hierarchy prioritizes the inputs into three levels based on the extent to which inputs used in measuring fair value are observable in the market. Each fair value measurement is reported in one of the three levels which is determined by the lowest level input that is significant to the fair value measurement in its entirety. These levels are:

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In accordance with the fair value hierarchy, described above, the following table shows the fair value of the Company’s financial instruments that are required to be measured at fair value as of March 31, 2015 and September 30, 2014.

 

 

 

 

The following table reconciles the beginning and ending balances of net assets and liabilities classified as Level 3:

 

 

The majority of the Company’s non-financial instruments, which include goodwill, intangible assets, inventories, and property, plant, and equipment, are not required to be re-measured to fair value on a recurring basis. These assets are evaluated for impairment if certain triggering events occur. If such evaluation indicates that impairment exists, the asset is written down to its fair value. In addition, an impairment analysis is performed at least annually for goodwill and indefinite-lived intangible assets.

Fair Value of Debt

Based on the level of interest rates prevailing at March 31, 2015, the fair value of the Company’s debt was $2.958 billion. Based on the level of interest rates prevailing at September 30, 2014, the fair value of the Company’s debt was $3.026 billion. The fair value of the Company’s debt instruments are determined using quoted market prices from less active markets or by using quoted market prices for instruments with identical terms and maturities; both approaches are considered a Level 2 measurement.

 

 

 

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WARNER MUSIC GROUP CORP.

Supplementary Information

Consolidating Financial Statements

The Company is the direct parent of Holdings, which is the direct parent of Acquisition Corp. Holdings has issued and outstanding the 13.75% Senior Notes due 2019 (the “Holdings Notes”). In addition, Acquisition Corp. has issued and outstanding the 5.625% Senior Secured Notes due 2022, the 6.00% Senior Secured Notes due 2021, the 6.25% Senior Secured Notes due 2021, and the 6.75% Senior Notes due 2022 (together, the “Acquisition Corp. Notes”).

The Holdings Notes are guaranteed by the Company. These guarantees are full, unconditional, joint and several. The following condensed consolidating financial statements are presented for the information of the holders of the Holdings Notes and present the results of operations, financial position and cash flows of (i) the Company, which is the guarantor of the Holdings Notes, (ii) Holdings, which is the issuer of the Holdings Notes, (iii) the subsidiaries of Holdings (Acquisition Corp. is the only direct subsidiary of Holdings) and (iv) the eliminations necessary to arrive at the information for the Company on a consolidated basis. Investments in consolidated or combined subsidiaries are presented under the equity method of accounting.

The Acquisition Corp. Notes are also guaranteed by the Company and, in addition, are guaranteed by all of Acquisition Corp.’s domestic wholly-owned subsidiaries. The secured notes are guaranteed on a senior secured basis and the unsecured notes are guaranteed on an unsecured senior basis. The Company’s guarantee of the Acquisition Corp. Notes is full and unconditional.  The guarantee of the Acquisition Corp. Notes by Acquisition Corp.’s domestic, wholly-owned subsidiaries are full, unconditional, joint and several. The following condensed consolidating financial statements are also presented for the information of the holders of the Acquisition Corp. Notes and present the results of operations, financial position and cash flows of (i) Acquisition Corp., which is the issuer of the Acquisition Corp. Notes, (ii) the guarantor subsidiaries of Acquisition Corp., (iii) the non-guarantor subsidiaries of Acquisition Corp. and (iv) the eliminations necessary to arrive at the information for Acquisition Corp. on a consolidated basis. Investments in consolidated subsidiaries are presented under the equity method of accounting. There are no restrictions on Acquisition Corp.’s ability to obtain funds from any of its wholly-owned subsidiaries through dividends, loans or advances.

The Company and Holdings are holding companies that conduct substantially all of their business operations through Acquisition Corp. Accordingly, the ability of the Company and Holdings to obtain funds from their subsidiaries is restricted by the indentures for the Acquisition Corp. Notes and the credit agreements for the Acquisition Corp. Senior Credit Facilities, and, with respect to the Company, the indenture for the Holdings Notes.

The Company has revised its presentation for the prior period Guarantor and Non-Guarantor Financial Information from what was filed in our Form 10-Q on May 8, 2014. The Company uses the guidance under ASC Subtopic 605-45, Principal Agent Considerations, to determine when to measure revenue on a “gross” or “net” basis depending on whether the Company is acting as the “principal” in the transaction or acting as an “agent” in the transaction. The revised Consolidating Statement of Operations presentation reflects adjustments to certain revenue and expense balances to properly reflect the impact of one of the Guarantor entities acting as the principal in our digital arrangements. We have also revised the presentation of our Consolidating Balance Sheet to reflect the adjusted investment and equity balances as a result of the changes noted above in the Consolidating Statement of Operations. The principal elimination entries eliminate investments in subsidiaries and intercompany balances.  

 

 

 

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Consolidating Balance Sheet (Unaudited)

March 31, 2015

 

 

 

 

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Consolidating Balance Sheet

September 30, 2014

 

 

 

 

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Consolidating Statement of Operations (Unaudited)

For The Three Months Ended March 31, 2015

 

 

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Consolidating Statement of Operations (Unaudited)

For The Three Months Ended March 31, 2014

 

 

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Consolidating Statement of Operations (Unaudited)

For The Six Months Ended March 31, 2015

 

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Consolidating Statement of Operations (Unaudited)

For The Six Months Ended March 31, 2014

 

 

 

 

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Consolidating Statement of Comprehensive Income (Unaudited)

For The Three Months Ended March 31, 2015

 

 

 

 

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Consolidating Statement of Comprehensive Income (Unaudited)

For The Three Months Ended March 31, 2014

 

 

 

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Consolidating Statement of Comprehensive Income (Unaudited)

For The Six Months Ended March 31, 2015

 

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Consolidating Statement of Comprehensive Income (Unaudited)

For The Six Months Ended March 31, 2014

 

 

 

 

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Consolidating Statement of Cash Flows (Unaudited)

For The Six Months Ended March 31, 2015

 

 

 

 

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Consolidating Statement of Cash Flows (Unaudited)

For The Six Months Ended March 31, 2014

 

 

 

 

 

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You should read the following discussion of our results of operations and financial condition with the unaudited interim financial statements included elsewhere in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the fiscal quarter ended March 31, 2015 (the “Quarterly Report”).

“SAFE HARBOR” STATEMENT UNDER PRIVATE SECURITIES LITIGATION REFORM ACT OF 1995

This Quarterly Report includes “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. All statements other than statements of historical facts included in this Quarterly Report, including, without limitation, statements regarding our future financial position, business strategy, budgets, projected costs, cost savings, industry trends and plans and objectives of management for future operations, are forward-looking statements. In addition, forward-looking statements generally can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as “may,” “will,” “expect,” “intend,” “estimate,” “anticipate,” “believe” or “continue” or the negative thereof or variations thereon or similar terminology. Such statements include, among others, statements regarding our ability to develop talent and attract future talent, our ability to reduce future capital expenditures, our ability to monetize our music-based content, including through new distribution channels and formats to capitalize on the growth areas of the music industry, our ability to effectively deploy our capital, the development of digital music and the effect of digital distribution channels on our business, including whether we will be able to achieve higher margins from digital sales, the success of strategic actions (including the acquisition of Parlophone Label Group) we are taking to accelerate our transformation as we redefine our role in the music industry, the effectiveness of our ongoing efforts to reduce overhead expenditures and manage our variable and fixed cost structure and our ability to generate expected cost savings from such efforts, including expected cost savings and other synergies and benefits from our acquisition of Parlophone Label Group, our success in limiting piracy, our ability to compete in the highly competitive markets in which we operate, the growth of the music industry and the effect of our and the music industry’s efforts to combat piracy on the industry, our intention to pay dividends or repurchase our outstanding notes in open market purchases, privately or otherwise, the impact on us of potential strategic transactions, ongoing developments relating to and the effect on the competitive landscape of the music industry following the sale of EMI’s recorded music and music publishing businesses, our ability to fund our future capital needs and the effect of litigation on us. Although we believe that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, we can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to have been correct.

There are a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause our actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements contained in this Quarterly Report. Additionally, important factors could cause our actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements we make in this Quarterly Report. As stated elsewhere in this Quarterly Report, such risks, uncertainties and other important factors include, among others:

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There may be other factors not presently known to us or which we currently consider to be immaterial that could cause our actual results to differ materially from those projected in any forward-looking statements we make. You should read carefully the “Risk Factors” section of this Quarterly Report to better understand the risks and uncertainties inherent in our business and underlying any forward-looking statements.

All forward-looking statements attributable to us or persons acting on our behalf apply only as of the date of this Quarterly Report and are expressly qualified in their entirety by the cautionary statements included in this Quarterly Report. We disclaim any duty to update or revise forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date made or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.

INTRODUCTION

Warner Music Group Corp. (the “Company”) was formed on November 21, 2003. The Company is the direct parent of WMG Holdings Corp. (“Holdings”), which is the direct parent of WMG Acquisition Corp. (“Acquisition Corp.”). Acquisition Corp. is one of the world’s major music-based content companies.

The Company and Holdings are holding companies that conduct substantially all of their business operations through their subsidiaries. The terms “we,” “us,” “our,” “ours,” and the “Company” refer collectively to Warner Music Group Corp. and its consolidated subsidiaries, except where otherwise indicated.

Management’s discussion and analysis of results of operations and financial condition (“MD&A”) is provided as a supplement to the unaudited financial statements and footnotes included elsewhere herein to help provide an understanding of our financial condition, changes in financial condition and results of our operations. MD&A is organized as follows:

Use of OIBDA

We evaluate our operating performance based on several factors, including our primary financial measure of operating income (loss) before non-cash depreciation of tangible assets and non-cash amortization of intangible assets (which we refer to as “OIBDA”). We consider OIBDA to be an important indicator of the operational strengths and performance of our businesses. However, a limitation of the use of OIBDA as a performance measure is that it does not reflect the periodic costs of certain capitalized tangible and intangible assets used in generating revenues in our businesses. Accordingly, OIBDA should be considered in addition to, not as a substitute for, operating income (loss), net income (loss) attributable to Warner Music Group Corp. and other measures of financial performance reported in accordance with U.S. GAAP. In addition, our definition of OIBDA may differ from similarly titled measures used by other companies. A reconciliation of consolidated OIBDA to operating income (loss) and net income (loss) attributable to Warner Music Group Corp. is provided in our “Results of Operations.”

Use of Constant Currency

As exchange rates are an important factor in understanding period to period comparisons, we believe the presentation of results on a constant-currency basis in addition to reported results helps improve the ability to understand our operating results and evaluate our performance in comparison to prior periods. Constant-currency information compares results between periods as if exchange rates had remained constant period over period. We use results on a constant-currency basis as one measure to evaluate our performance. We calculate constant currency by calculating prior-year results using current-year foreign currency exchange rates. We generally refer to such amounts calculated on a constant-currency basis as “excluding the impact of foreign currency exchange rates.” These results should be considered in addition to, not as a substitute for, results reported in accordance with U.S. GAAP. Results on a constant-currency basis, as we present them, may not be comparable to similarly titled measures used by other companies and are not a measure of performance presented in accordance with U.S. GAAP.

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OVERVIEW

We are one of the world’s major music-based content companies. We classify our business interests into two fundamental operations: Recorded Music and Music Publishing. A brief description of each of those operations is presented below.

Recorded Music Operations

Our Recorded Music business primarily consists of the discovery and development of artists and the related marketing, distribution and licensing of recorded music produced by such artists. We play an integral role in virtually all aspects of the recorded music value chain from discovering and developing talent to producing albums and promoting artists and their products.

In the United States, our Recorded Music operations are conducted principally through our major record labels—Warner Bros. Records and Atlantic Records. Our Recorded Music operations also include Rhino, a division that specializes in marketing our music catalog through compilations and reissuances of previously released music and video titles, as well as in the licensing of recordings to and from third parties for various uses, including film and television soundtracks. We also conduct our Recorded Music operations through a collection of additional record labels, including, Asylum, Big Beat, East West, Elektra, Erato, Fueled by Ramen, Nonesuch, Parlophone, Reprise, Roadrunner, Rykodisc, Sire, Warner Classics, Warner Music Nashville and Word.

Outside the United States, our Recorded Music activities are conducted in more than 50 countries through various subsidiaries, affiliates and non-affiliated licensees. Internationally, we engage in the same activities as in the United States: discovering and signing artists and distributing, marketing and selling their recorded music. In most cases, we also market and distribute the records of those artists for whom our domestic record labels have international rights. In certain smaller markets, we license the right to distribute our records to non-affiliated third-party record labels. Our international artist services operations include a network of concert promoters through which we provide resources to coordinate tours for our artists and other artists as well as management companies that guide artists with respect to their careers.

Our Recorded Music distribution operations include Warner-Elektra-Atlantic Corporation (“WEA Corp.”), which markets and sells music and video products to retailers and wholesale distributors; Alternative Distribution Alliance (“ADA”), which distributes the products of independent labels to retail and wholesale distributors; various distribution centers and ventures operated internationally; and an 80% interest in Word, which specializes in the distribution of music products in the Christian retail marketplace.

In addition to our Recorded Music products being sold in physical retail outlets, our Recorded Music products are also sold in physical form to online physical retailers such as Amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com and bestbuy.com and in digital form to digital download services such as Apple’s iTunes and Google Play, and are offered by digital streaming services such as Beats Music, Deezer, Rhapsody, Spotify and YouTube, including digital radio services such as Pandora, iTunes Radio and iHeart Radio.

We have integrated the exploitation of digital content into all aspects of our business, including artist and repertoire (“A&R”), marketing, promotion and distribution. Our business development executives work closely with A&R departments to ensure that while a record is being produced, digital assets are also created with all distribution channels in mind, including streaming services, social networking sites, online portals and music-centered destinations. We also work side-by-side with our online and mobile partners to test new concepts. We believe existing and new digital businesses will be a significant source of growth for at least the next several years and will provide new opportunities to successfully monetize our assets and create new revenue streams. The proportion of digital revenues attributed to each distribution channel varies by region and proportions may change as the roll out of new technologies continues. As an owner of music content, we believe we are well positioned to take advantage of growth in digital distribution and emerging technologies to maximize the value of our assets.

We are also diversifying our revenues beyond our traditional businesses by entering into expanded-rights deals with recording artists in order to partner with artists in other aspects of their careers. Under these agreements, we provide services to and participate in artists’ activities outside the traditional recorded music business. We have built artist services capabilities and platforms for exploiting this broader set of music-related rights and participating more widely in the monetization of the artist brands we help create.

We believe that entering into artist services and expanded-rights deals and enhancing our artist services capabilities will permit us to diversify revenue streams and capitalize on revenue opportunities in merchandising, fan clubs, sponsorship, concert promotion and touring. This will provide for improved long-term relationships with artists and allow us to more effectively connect artists and fans.

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Recorded Music revenues are derived from four main sources:

The principal costs associated with our Recorded Music operations are as follows:

Music Publishing Operations

While recorded music is focused on exploiting a particular recording of a composition, music publishing is an intellectual property business focused on the exploitation of the composition itself. In return for promoting, placing, marketing and administering the creative output of a songwriter, or engaging in those activities for other rightsholders, our Music Publishing business garners a share of the revenues generated from use of the composition.

Our Music Publishing operations are conducted principally through Warner/Chappell, our global music publishing company headquartered in Los Angeles with operations in over 50 countries through various subsidiaries, affiliates and non-affiliated licensees. We own or control rights to more than one million musical compositions, including numerous pop hits, American standards, folk songs and motion picture and theatrical compositions. Assembled over decades, our award-winning catalog includes over 65,000 songwriters and composers and a diverse range of genres including pop, rock, jazz, classical, country, R&B, hip-hop, rap, reggae, Latin, folk, blues, symphonic, soul, Broadway, techno, alternative, gospel and other Christian music. Warner/Chappell also administers the music and soundtracks of several third-party television and film producers and studios, including Lucasfilm, Ltd., Hallmark Entertainment and Disney Music Publishing. Through consistent and tactical talent investment, Warner Chappell has developed a broad array of talent across all genres, resulting in Warner/Chappell being awarded ASCAP’s Top Publisher of the Year for each of Pop, Country and Urban in 2014. Our production music library business includes Non-Stop Music, Groove Addicts Production Music Library, Carlin Recorded Music Library, 615 Music and Frank Gari Productions and Gari Communications, collectively branded as Warner/Chappell Production Music.

Music Publishing revenues are derived from five main sources:

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The principal costs associated with our Music Publishing operations are as follows:

Factors Affecting Results of Operations and Financial Condition

EMI and PLG Related Costs

We incurred certain costs, primarily representing professional fees, related to our participation in a sales process, which resulted in the sale of EMI’s recorded music and music publishing businesses, including the subsequent review of the transactions by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, the European Commission and other regulatory bodies, and the subsequent sale of Parlophone Label Group by Universal Music Group. Subsequent to the close of the PLG Acquisition, we also incurred other integration and other nonrecurring costs related to the PLG Acquisition. Total professional fees and integration costs amounted to approximately $3 million for the six months ended March 31, 2015 and were recorded in the consolidated statements of operations, with $3 million within general and administrative expense. These costs amounted to approximately $36 million for the six months ended March 31, 2014 and were recorded in the consolidated statements of operations, with $4 million within product costs and $32 million within general and administrative expense. All material integration costs are expected to be incurred by the end of fiscal 2015.

Restructuring Costs and Expected Cost Savings and Other Synergies from the PLG Acquisition

In conjunction with the PLG Acquisition, we undertook a plan to achieve cost savings (the “Restructuring Plan”), primarily through headcount reductions and real estate consolidation. The Restructuring Plan was approved by our CEO prior to the close of the PLG Acquisition. Under the Restructuring Plan, we currently expect to record an aggregate of approximately $75 million in restructuring costs, currently estimated to be made up of employee-related costs of $68 million, real estate costs of $5 million and other costs of $2 million. Total restructuring costs of $2 million was incurred during the six months ended March 31, 2015 with respect to these actions, which consisted of $1 million of employee-related costs and $1 million of real estate costs. Total restructuring costs of $24 million were incurred during the six months ended March 31, 2014 with respect to these actions, which consisted of $22 million of employee-related costs, $1 million of real estate costs and $1 million of other costs. Total restructuring costs of $74 million have been incurred to date under the Restructuring Plan. A significant portion of these charges have resulted in and will continue to result in cash expenditures. Total cash payments of $70 million to date have been made under the Restructuring Plan. Employee-related costs include all cash compensation and other employee benefits paid to terminated employees. Real estate costs include costs that will continue to be incurred without economic benefit to us, such as, among others, operating lease payments for office space no longer being used and moving costs incurred during relocation, costs incurred to close a facility and IT costs to wire a new facility. The remainder of the Restructuring Plan is expected to be completed by the end of fiscal 2015.

The $75 million in expected restructuring costs do not include other integration and other nonrecurring costs related to the PLG Acquisition noted above that are currently estimated to be $85 million, which do not qualify as restructuring costs. As of March 31, 2015, these actions were completed and resulted in cost savings and other synergies of approximately $70 million.

Expanding Business Models to Drive Incremental Revenue

Digital

The global recorded music industry is moving increasingly to digital with access models and downloads enabling additional channels of revenue generation. We intend to continue to extend our global reach by developing and optimizing business models that will enable us to monetize our content across platforms, services and devices. In the United States, for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2014, our Recorded Music digital revenue exceeded our physical revenue. While there are signs of industry stabilization, the industry continues to be impacted as a result of the transition to digital. It is believed within the recorded music industry that digital revenues will re-establish a growth pattern for recorded music but the timing of that recovery cannot be established with accuracy, nor can it be determined how those changes will affect individual markets.

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While to date sales of digital downloads have constituted the majority of our digital revenue, streaming models are becoming more prevalent. According to industry shipments and revenue data released by the RIAA, streaming revenues rose 29% year-over-year in calendar year 2014 in the United States, growing streaming’s share of overall industry revenues from 21% to 27%. While streaming revenue growth has offset the decline in download revenue, declines in physical revenue continue to outpace digital revenue’s growth in the recorded music industry. As the digital transition develops, it is reasonable to expect that margins may trend higher given the elimination of certain costs associated with physical products, such as manufacturing, distribution, inventory and returns. Partially eroding that benefit are certain digital-specific variable costs and infrastructure investments necessary to produce, market and sell music in digital formats, as well as increases in copyright royalties payable to music publishers. As consumer purchasing patterns change over time and new digital models are launched and continue to grow, we may see fluctuations in contribution margin depending on the overall sales mix.  

Artist Services and Expanded-Rights Deals

We have also expanded our relationships with recording artists as another means to offset declines in physical revenues and download revenues in Recorded Music. For example, we have signed recording artists to expanded-rights deals. Under these expanded-rights deals, we participate in the recording artist’s revenue streams, other than from recorded music sales, such as live performances, merchandising and sponsorships. Artist services and expanded-rights revenue, which includes revenue from expanded-rights deals as well as revenue from our artist services business, represented approximately 9% of our total revenue during the six months ended March 31, 2015. Artist services and expanded-rights revenue will fluctuate from period to period depending upon touring schedules, among other things. Margins for the various artist services and expanded-rights revenue streams can vary significantly. The overall impact on margins will, therefore, depend on the composition of the various revenue streams in any particular period. For instance, revenue from passive touring under our expanded-rights deals typically flows straight through to operating income with little associated cost. Revenue from our management business and revenue from sponsorship and touring under expanded-rights deals are all high margin, while merchandising revenue under expanded-rights deals and revenue from our concert promotion businesses tend to be lower margin than our traditional revenue streams from Recorded Music and Music Publishing.

 

 

 

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RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

Three Months Ended March 31, 2015 Compared with Three Months Ended March 31, 2014

Consolidated Results

Revenues

Our revenues were composed of the following amounts (in millions):

 

 

Total Revenue

Total revenue increased by $24 million, or 4%, to $677 million for the three months ended March 31, 2015 from $653 million for the three months ended March 31, 2014. Excluding the unfavorable impact of foreign currency exchange rates, total revenue increased by $77 million, or 13%. Prior to intersegment eliminations, Recorded Music and Music Publishing revenues represented 83% and 17% of total revenue for the three months ended March 31, 2015 and 81% and 19% of total revenue for the three months ended March 31, 2014, respectively. Prior to intersegment eliminations, U.S. and international revenues represented 42% and 58% of total revenue for the three months ended March 31, 2015 and 41% and 59% of total revenue for the three months ended March 31, 2014, respectively.

Total digital revenue after intersegment eliminations increased by $2 million, or 1%, to $297 million for the three months ended March 31, 2015 from $295 million for the three months ended March 31, 2014. Excluding the unfavorable impact of foreign currency exchange rates, total digital revenue after intersegment eliminations increased by $28 million, or 10%. Total digital revenue represented 44% and 45% of consolidated revenue for the three months ended March 31, 2015 and March 31, 2014, respectively. Prior to intersegment eliminations, total digital revenue for the three months ended March 31, 2015 was comprised of U.S. revenue of $157 million and international revenue of $141 million, or 53% and 47% of total digital revenue, respectively. Prior to intersegment eliminations, total digital revenue for the three months ended March 31, 2014 was comprised of U.S. revenue of $152 million and international revenue of $144 million, or 51% and 49% of total digital revenue, respectively.

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Recorded Music revenue increased by $29 million, or 5%, to $564 million for the three months ended March 31, 2015 from $535 million for the three months ended March 31, 2014. Excluding the unfavorable impact of foreign currency exchange rates, Recorded Music revenue increased by $72 million, or 15%. U.S. Recorded Music revenues were $236 million and $219 million, or 42% and 41% of consolidated Recorded Music revenues for the three months ended March 31, 2015 and March 31, 2014, respectively. International Recorded Music revenues were $328 million and $316 million, or 58% and 59% of consolidated Recorded Music revenues for the three months ended March 31, 2015 and March 31, 2014, respectively.

The overall increase in Recorded Music revenue was mainly driven by a stronger release schedule, including the release from Kid Rock, the reissuance of Led Zeppelin’s “Physical Graffiti” and the carryover success of Ed Sheeran’s album “X”, which impacted our physical and digital results. Licensing revenue also grew as a result of increased synchronization activity in the quarter as well as the inclusion of PLG repertoire in broadcast fee income for the first time since the PLG acquisition in certain territories. The physical revenue increase of $12 million was driven by physically-centric releases such as the releases from Kid Rock and Led Zeppelin, as well as local releases in physically-centric territories such as France. Digital revenue increased by $1 million, or $17 million excluding the unfavorable impact of foreign currency exchange rates, as a result of the carry over success of previous releases from artists such as Ed Sheeran, Michael Bublé, Led Zeppelin and David Guetta, and the continued growth in streaming. Revenue from streaming services grew by $25 million and was partially offset by digital download declines of $22 million. These increases were partially offset by a slight decrease in artist services and expanded-rights revenue which was driven by the timing of tours in the concert promotion business.

Music Publishing revenues decreased by $5 million, or 4%, to $117 million for the three months ended March 31, 2015 from $122 million for the three months ended March 31, 2014. Excluding the unfavorable impact of foreign currency exchange rates, Music Publishing revenue increased by $5 million, or 5%. U.S. Music Publishing revenues were $52 million, or 44% and 43%, of Music Publishing revenues for the three months ended March 31, 2015 and March 31, 2014, respectively. International Music Publishing revenues were $65 million and $70 million, or 56% and 57%, of Music Publishing revenues for the three months ended March 31, 2015 and March 31, 2014, respectively.

Music Publishing digital revenue continued to increase which was offset by decreases in performance revenue and mechanical revenue. Digital revenue was up $1 million primarily due to an increase in streaming services revenue. The offsetting decreases in performance revenue and mechanical revenue were attributable to an ongoing shift towards digital product in the industry.

Revenue by Geographical Location

U.S. revenue increased by $17 million, or 6%, to $288 million for the three months ended March 31, 2015 from $271 million for the three months ended March 31, 2014. U.S. Recorded Music revenue increased by $17 million, or 8%. U.S. Recorded Music Revenue increased in all categories, specifically, increases in physical revenue of $4 million, digital revenue of $5 million, artist services and expanded-rights revenue of $2 million, and licensing revenue of $6 million. The physical increase was driven by strong physically-centric releases in the current period from Kid Rock and Led Zeppelin. U.S. Recorded Music digital revenue increased due to the continued growth in streaming services and U.S. Recorded Music licensing revenue increased due to strong synchronization activity in the quarter. U.S. Music Publishing revenue remained flat at $52 million.

International revenue increased by $7 million, or 2%, to $393 million for the three months ended March 31, 2015 from $386 million for the three months ended March 31, 2014. Excluding the unfavorable impact of foreign currency exchange rates, International revenue increased by $60 million, or 18%. International Recorded Music revenue increased $12 million primarily due to increases in physical revenue of $8 million and licensing revenue of $17 million, partially offset by declines in artist services and expanded-rights revenue of $9 million and digital revenue of $4 million. International Recorded Music physical revenue increased due to a strong regional release schedule. The main driver of the increase in International Recorded Music licensing revenue was the inclusion of PLG repertoire in broadcast fee income for the first time since the PLG Acquisition in certain territories, including certain one-time distributions of historical amounts. International Recorded Music artist services and expanded-rights revenue decreased due to declines in concert promotion revenue in Europe of $2 million as a result of the timing of tours and unfavorable foreign currency exchange rates of $7 million. The overall decrease in International Recorded Music digital revenue was driven by the impact of foreign currency exchange of $16 million. The $12 million decline in digital download revenue was partially offset by an increase in streaming services revenue of $10 million due to the increasing availability of streaming access models internationally. The decrease in International Music Publishing revenue of $5 million was due to the unfavorable impact of foreign currency exchange rates.

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Cost of revenues

Our cost of revenues was composed of the following amounts (in millions):

 

 

Total cost of revenues decreased by $1 million to $318 million for the three months ended March 31, 2015 from $319 million for the three months ended March 31, 2014. Expressed as a percentage of revenues, cost of revenues decreased to 47% for the three months ended March 31, 2015 from 49% for the three months ended March 31, 2014.

Artist and repertoire costs decreased by $1 million, to $203 million for the three months ended March 31, 2015 from $204 million for the three months ended March 31, 2014. Artist and repertoire costs as a percentage of revenue decreased to 30% for the three months ended December 31, 2014 from 31% for the three months ended March 31, 2014, primarily due to changes in revenue mix.

Product costs remained flat at $115 million for the three months ended March 31, 2015 compared to the three months ended March 31, 2014. Product costs as a percentage of revenue decreased to 17% for the three months ended March 31, 2015 from 18% for the three months ended March 31, 2014, primarily due to the decline in artist services and expanded-rights revenue, which is typically a lower margin revenue stream.

Selling, general and administrative expenses

Our selling, general and administrative expenses were composed of the following amounts (in millions):

 

 

 

 

Total selling, general and administrative expense decreased by $21 million, or 8%, to $252 million for the three months ended March 31, 2015 from $273 million for the three months ended March 31, 2014. Expressed as a percentage of revenues, selling, general and administrative expense decreased to 37% for the three months ended March 31, 2015 from 42% for the three months ended March 31, 2014.

General and administrative expense declined by $16 million, or 10%, to $143 million for the three months ended March 31, 2015 from $159 million for the three months ended March 31, 2014. The decline in general and administrative expense was primarily due to a decline in restructuring costs of $13 million, a portion of which relates to PLG, decreased professional fees and other integration costs primarily associated with the PLG Acquisition of $11 million, and a $5 million decline in rent expense associated with moving to our new headquarters. These decreases were partially offset by higher variable compensation expense of $14 million, due to non-recurring performance driven reductions in bonus expense in the prior year. General and administrative expense decreased to 21% of revenue for the three months ended March 31, 2015 from 24% of revenue for the three months ended March 31, 2014.

Selling and marketing expense decreased by $4 million, or 4%, to $97 million for the three months ended March 31, 2015 from $101 million for the three months ended March 31, 2014. The decrease in selling and marketing expense was primarily due to decreased headcount after the full integration of PLG and ongoing cost containment initiatives. Expressed as a percentage of revenue, selling and marketing expense decreased to 14% for the three months ended March 31, 2015 from 16% for the three months ended March 31, 2014.

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Distribution expense decreased by $1 million, or 8%, to $12 million for the three months ended March 31, 2015 from $13 million for the three months ended March 31, 2014. Expressed as a percentage of revenue, distribution expense remained flat at 2% for the three months ended March 31, 2015 and March 31, 2014.

Reconciliation of Consolidated OIBDA to Operating Income and Net Income (Loss) Attributable to Warner Music Group Corp.

As previously described, we use OIBDA as our primary measure of financial performance. The following table reconciles OIBDA to operating income, and further provides the components from operating income to net income (loss) attributable to Warner Music Group Corp. for purposes of the discussion that follows (in millions):

 

OIBDA

OIBDA increased by $47 million, or 64%, to $121 million for the three months ended March 31, 2015 as compared to $74 million for the three months ended March 31, 2014 as a result of the flow through of higher revenue as noted above and lower restructuring and integration costs related to the PLG Acquisition in the prior period. Expressed as a percentage of total revenue, OIBDA increased to 18% for the three months ended March 31, 2015 from 11% for the three months ended March 31, 2014.

Depreciation expense

Our depreciation expense increased by $1 million, or 8%, to $14 million for the three months ended March 31, 2015 from $13 million for the three months ended March 31, 2014, primarily as a result of depreciation relating to our new headquarters.

Amortization expense

Our amortization expense decreased by $3 million, or 5%, to $63 million for the three months ended March 31, 2015 from $66 million for the three months ended March 31, 2014.

Operating income

Our operating income increased $49 million to $44 million for the three months ended March 31, 2015 from an operating loss of $5 million for the three months ended March 31, 2014. The increase in operating income was due to the factors that led to the increase in OIBDA noted above.

Interest expense, net

Our interest expense, net, decreased by $9 million, or 17%, to $45 million for the three months ended March 31, 2015 from $54 million for the three months ended March 31, 2014. This was primarily driven by lower interest rates as a result of our refinancing in fiscal 2014 partially offset by additional principal amount of debt outstanding in the current period.

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Other income (expense)

Our other income (expense), net primarily consists of currency exchange movements associated with our Euro denominated debt and intercompany receivables and payables that are short term in nature. The increase in expense is primarily due to currency exchange gains on our Euro denominated debt of $20 million, partially offset by losses on our intercompany loans of $8 million.

Income tax benefit

We recognized income tax benefit of $6 million for the three months ended March 31, 2015 compared to $3 million of income tax benefit for the three months ended March 31, 2014.  

Net income (loss)

Net income increased by $78 million, or 132%, to $19 million for the three months ended March 31, 2015 from a net loss of $59 million for the three months ended March 31, 2014 as a result of the factors described above.

Noncontrolling interest

Income attributable to noncontrolling interest was $1 million for the three months ended March 31, 2015 and March 31, 2014.

Business Segment Results

Revenue, OIBDA and operating income (loss) by business segment were as follows (in millions):

 

Recorded Music

Revenues

Recorded Music revenue increased by $29 million, or 5%, to $564 million for the three months ended March 31, 2015 from $535 million for the three months ended March 31, 2014. U.S. Recorded Music revenues were $236 million and $219 million, or 42% and 41% of consolidated Recorded Music revenues for the three months ended March 31, 2015 and March 31, 2014, respectively. International Recorded Music revenues were $328 million and $316 million, or 58% and 59% of consolidated Recorded Music revenues for the three months ended March 31, 2015 and March 31, 2014, respectively.

The overall increase in Recorded Music revenue was mainly driven by a strong release schedule as described in the “Total Revenues” and “Revenue by Geographical Location” sections above.

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Cost of revenues

Recorded Music cost of revenues was composed of the following amounts (in millions):

 

 

Recorded Music cost of revenues decreased by $2 million, or 1%, to $273 million for the three months ended March 31, 2015 from $275 million for the three months ended March 31, 2014. The decrease in artist and repertoire costs was primarily due to changes in revenue mix. Expressed as a percentage of Recorded Music revenue, Recorded Music cost of revenues decreased to 48% for the three months ended March 31, 2015 from 51% for the three months ended March 31, 2014.

Selling, general and administrative expense

Recorded Music selling, general and administrative expenses were composed of the following amounts (in millions):

 

 

Recorded Music selling, general and administrative expense decreased by $21 million, or 9%, to $209 million for the three months ended March 31, 2015 from $230 million for the three months ended March 31, 2014. The decrease in Recorded Music selling, general and administrative expense was primarily due to a decline in restructuring costs of $15 million and decreased professional fees and other integration costs primarily associated with the PLG Acquisition, partially offset by an increase in variable compensation due to non-recurring performance driven reductions in bonus expense in the prior year. Expressed as a percentage of Recorded Music revenue, Recorded Music selling, general and administrative expense decreased to 37% for the three months ended March 31, 2015 from 43% for the three months ended March 31, 2014 due to a decrease in the restructuring and other integration costs noted above.

OIBDA and Operating income (loss)

Recorded Music operating income (loss) included the following amounts (in millions):

 

 

Recorded Music OIBDA increased by $52 million, or 133%, to $91 million for the three months ended March 31, 2015 from $39 million for the three months ended March 31, 2014 as a result of the flow through of higher Recorded Music revenue and decreased restructuring and other integration costs related to the PLG Acquisition. Expressed as a percentage of Recorded Music revenue, Recorded Music OIBDA increased to 16% for the three months ended March 31, 2015 from 7% for the three months ended March 31, 2014.

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Recorded Music operating income increased by $54 million to $35 million for the three months ended March 31, 2015 from an operating loss of $19 million for the three months ended March 31, 2014 due to the factors that led to the increase in Recorded Music OIBDA noted above.

Music Publishing

Revenues

Music Publishing revenues decreased by $5 million, or 4%, to $117 million for the three months ended March 31, 2015 from $122 million for the three months ended March 31, 2014. U.S. Music Publishing revenues were $52 million, or 44% and 43%, of Music Publishing revenues for the three months ended March 31, 2015 and March 31, 2014, respectively. International Music Publishing revenues were $65 million and $70 million, or 56% and 57%, of Music Publishing revenues for the three months ended March 31, 2015 and March 31, 2014, respectively.

The overall decrease in Music Publishing revenue was mainly driven by the unfavorable impact of foreign currency exchange rates which resulted in decreases in performance revenue and mechanical revenue offset by an increase in digital revenue as described in the “Total Revenues” and “Revenue by Geographical Location” sections above.

Cost of revenues

Music Publishing cost of revenues were composed of the following amounts (in millions):

 

 

Music Publishing cost of revenues increased by $1 million, or 2%, to $49 million for the three months ended March 31, 2015 from $48 million for the three months ended March 31, 2014 due to the timing of A&R investments to sign and develop songwriters. Expressed as a percentage of Music Publishing revenue, Music Publishing cost of revenues increased to 42% for the three months ended March 31, 2015 from 39% for the three months ended March 31, 2014.

Selling, general and administrative expense

Music Publishing selling, general and administrative expenses were comprised of the following amounts (in millions):

 

 

Music Publishing selling, general and administrative expense decreased by $1 million, or 5%, to $19 million for the three months ended March 31, 2015 from $20 million for the three months ended March 31, 2014. Expressed as a percentage of Music Publishing revenue, Music Publishing selling, general and administrative expense remained flat at 16% for the three months ended March 31, 2015 from 16% for the three months ended March 31, 2014.

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OIBDA and Operating income

Music Publishing operating income included the following amounts (in millions):

 

 

Music Publishing OIBDA decreased by $4 million, or 7%, to $51 million for the three months ended March 31, 2015 from $55 million for the three months ended March 31, 2014 as a result of lower Music Publishing revenue noted above. Expressed as a percentage of Music Publishing revenue, Music Publishing OIBDA decreased to 44% for the three months ended March 31, 2015 from 45% for the three months ended March 31, 2014.

Music Publishing operating income decreased by $4 million, or 11%, to $33 million for the three months ended March 31, 2015 from $37 million for the three months ended March 31, 2014 due to the factors that led to the decrease in Music Publishing OIBDA noted above.

Corporate Expenses and Eliminations

Our OIBDA loss from corporate expenses and eliminations increased by $1 million to $21 million for the three months ended March 31, 2015 from $20 million for the three months ended March 31, 2014 due to an increase in variable compensation due to non-recurring performance driven reductions in bonus expense in the prior year.

Our operating loss from corporate expenses and eliminations increased by $1 million to $24 million for the three months ended March 31, 2015 from $23 million for the three months ended March 31, 2014 due to the factors that led to the increase in OIBDA loss noted above.

 

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Six Months Ended March 31, 2015 Compared with Six Months Ended March 31, 2014

Consolidated Results

Revenues

Our revenues were composed of the following amounts (in millions):

 

Total Revenue

Total revenue increased by $38 million, or 3%, to $1,506 million for the six months ended March 31, 2015 from $1,468 million for the six months ended March 31, 2014. Excluding the unfavorable impact of foreign currency exchange rates, total revenue increased by $127 million, or 9%. Prior to intersegment eliminations, Recorded Music and Music Publishing revenues represented 84% and 16% of total revenue for the six months ended March 31, 2015 and 83% and 17% of total revenue for the six months ended March 31, 2014, respectively. Prior to intersegment eliminations, U.S. and international revenues represented 38% and 62% of total revenue for the six months ended March 31, 2015 and 37% and 63% of total revenue for the six months ended March 31, 2014.

Total digital revenue after intersegment eliminations increased by $21 million, or 4%, to $592 million for the six months ended March 31, 2015 from $571 million for the six months ended March 31, 2014. Excluding the unfavorable impact of foreign currency exchange rates, total digital revenue after intersegment eliminations increased by $47 million, or 9%. Total digital revenue represented 39% of consolidated revenue for both the six months ended March 31, 2015 and 2014. Prior to intersegment eliminations, total digital revenue for the six months ended March 31, 2015 was comprised of U.S. revenue of $301 million and international revenue of $293 million, or 51% and 49% of total digital revenue, respectively. Prior to intersegment eliminations, total digital revenue for the six months ended March 31, 2014 was comprised of U.S. revenue of $286 million and international revenue of $287 million, or 50% and 50% of total digital revenue, respectively.

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Recorded Music revenue increased by $52 million, or 4%, to $1,278 million for the six months ended March 31, 2015 from $1,226 million for the six months ended March 31, 2014. Excluding the unfavorable impact of foreign currency exchange rates, Recorded Music revenue increased by $126 million, or 11%. U.S. Recorded Music revenues were $477 million and $449 million, or 37% of consolidated Recorded Music revenues for both the six months ended March 31, 2015 and March 31, 2014. International Recorded Music revenues were $801 million and $777 million, or 63% of consolidated Recorded Music revenues for both the six months ended March 31, 2015 and March 31, 2014.

The overall increase in Recorded Music revenue was mainly driven by a stronger release schedule, including releases from Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, and David Guetta, as well as the carryover success of Ed Sheeran’s album “X” and Michael Bublé’s “Christmas”, which were reflected in our physical and digital results. Licensing revenue increased by $18 million as a result of increased synchronization activity in the year as well as the inclusion of PLG repertoire in broadcast fee income for the first time since the PLG Acquisition in certain territories.  The physical revenue increase of $32 million was driven by physically-centric releases from key artists such as Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin and Johnny Hallyday, as well as local releases in physically-centric territories such as France. Digital revenue increased by $17 million, or $41 million excluding the unfavorable impact of foreign currency exchange rates, as a result of strong releases from Ed Sheeran and David Guetta and the continued growth in streaming. Revenue from streaming services grew by $51 million and was partially offset by digital download declines of $29 million. These increases were partially offset by a decrease in artist services and expanded-rights revenue, driven by declines in concert promotion revenue in Europe due to the timing of tours. The comparative prior period included significant tours from Bruno Mars and Laura Pausini.

Music Publishing revenues decreased by $14 million, or 6%, to $236 million for the six months ended March 31, 2015 from $250 million for the six months ended March 31, 2014. Excluding the unfavorable impact of foreign currency exchange rates, Music Publishing revenue increased by $1 million. U.S. Music Publishing revenues were $93 million, or 39% and 37%, of Music Publishing revenues for the six months ended March 31, 2015 and March 31, 2014, respectively. International Music Publishing revenues were $143 million and $157 million, or 61% and 63%, of Music Publishing revenues for the six months ended March 31, 2015 and March 31, 2014, respectively.

Music Publishing digital revenue increased $4 million partially offset by decreases in performance revenue of $9 million and mechanical revenue of $6 million. Digital revenue increased primarily due to an increase in streaming services revenue. The offsetting decrease in performance revenue and mechanical revenue is attributable to an ongoing shift towards digital products in the industry.

Revenue by Geographical Location

U.S. revenue increased by $28 million, or 5%, to $570 million for the six months ended March 31, 2015 from $542 million for the six months ended March 31, 2014. U.S. Recorded Music revenue increased by $28 million or 6%. The primary drivers were increases in physical revenue of $12 million, digital revenue of $14 million, and licensing revenue of $2 million. Artist services and expanded-rights revenue remained flat at $31 million. The physical increase was driven by strong releases in the current period, from Kid Rock, Led Zeppelin, Idina Menzel and Slipknot. U.S. Recorded Music digital revenue increased due to strong releases and the continued growth in streaming services. U.S. Music Publishing revenue remained flat at $93 million.

International revenue increased by $10 million, or 1%, to $944 million for the six months ended March 31, 2015 from $934 million for the six months ended March 31, 2014. Excluding the unfavorable impact of foreign currency exchange rates, International revenue increased by $99 million, or 12%. International Recorded Music revenue increased $24 million primarily due to increases in physical revenue of $20 million, digital revenue of $3 million, and licensing revenue of $16 million, partially offset by declines in artist services and expanded-rights revenue of $15 million. International Recorded Music physical revenue increased due to the success of key physically-centric international artists such as Johnny Hallyday and Pink Floyd. The main driver of the increase in International Recorded Music digital revenue was a $29 million increase in streaming services revenue due to the increasing availability of streaming access models internationally and strong releases from Ed Sheeran and David Guetta. This growth in streaming was partially offset by a $22 million decline in digital download revenue. The main driver of the increase in International Recorded Music licensing revenue was the inclusion of PLG repertoire in broadcast fee income and the timing of collection society distributions. International Recorded Music artist services and expanded-rights revenue decreased $3 million due to declines in concert promotion revenue in Europe due to the timing of tours and decreased $12 million due to the unfavorable impact of foreign currency exchange rates. The decrease in International Music Publishing revenue of $14 million was due to the unfavorable impact of foreign currency exchange rates.

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Cost of revenues

Our cost of revenues was composed of the following amounts (in millions):

 

 

Total cost of revenues increased by $3 million to $763 million for the six months ended March 31, 2015 from $760 million for the six months ended March 31, 2014. Expressed as a percentage of revenues, cost of revenues decreased to 51% for the six months ended March 31, 2015 from 52% for the six months ended March 31, 2014.

Artist and repertoire costs increased by $12 million, or 3%, to $495 million for the six months ended March 31, 2015 from $483 million for the six months ended March 31, 2014 primarily due to higher royalty expense associated with higher revenues. Artist and repertoire costs as a percentage of revenue remained flat at 33% for the six months ended March 31, 2015 and the six months ended March 31, 2014.

Product costs decreased by $9 million, or 3%, to $268 million for the six months ended March 31, 2015 from $277 million for the six months ended March 31, 2014. The decrease was primarily driven by lower costs associated with artist services and expanded-rights revenue, specifically the decline in concert promotion revenue, which tends to yield lower margins than our traditional revenue streams. Additionally, the comparative prior period also included $4 million of other integration costs associated with the PLG Acquisition, primarily related to supply chain integration. Product costs as a percentage of revenue decreased to 18% for the six months ended March 31, 2015 from 19% for the six months ended March 31, 2014.

Selling, general and administrative expense

Our selling, general and administrative expenses were composed of the following amounts (in millions):

 

 

 

Total selling, general and administrative expense decreased by $18 million, or 3%, to $548 million for the six months ended March 31, 2015 from $566 million for the six months ended March 31, 2014. Expressed as a percentage of revenues, selling, general and administrative expense decreased to 36% for the six months ended March 31, 2015 from 39% for the six months ended March 31, 2014.

General and administrative expense declined by $25 million, or 8%, to $295 million for the six months ended March 31, 2015 from $320 million for the six months ended March 31, 2014. The decline in general and administrative expense was primarily due to a decline in restructuring costs of $18 million and decreased professional fees and other integration costs primarily associated with the PLG Acquisition of $18 million. These decreases were partially offset by increased variable compensation expense of $10 million, due to non-recurring performance driven reductions in bonus expense in the prior year. General and administrative expense decreased to 20% of revenue for the six months ended March 31, 2015 from 22% of revenue for the six months ended March 31, 2014.

Selling and marketing expense increased by $7 million, or 3%, to $223 million for the six months ended March 31, 2015 from $216 million for the six months ended March 31, 2014. The increase in selling and marketing expense was primarily due to the increase in revenue. Expressed as a percentage of revenue, selling and marketing expense remained flat at 15% for the six months ended March 31, 2015 and the six months ended March 31, 2014.

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Distribution expense remained flat at $30 million for the six months ended March 31, 2015 and the six months ended March 31, 2014. Expressed as a percentage of revenue, distribution expense remained flat at 2% for the six months ended March 31, 2015 and March 31, 2014.

Reconciliation of Consolidated OIBDA to Operating Income and Net Loss Attributable to Warner Music Group Corp.

As previously described, we use OIBDA as our primary measure of financial performance. The following table reconciles OIBDA to operating income, and further provides the components from operating income to net loss attributable to Warner Music Group Corp. for purposes of the discussion that follows (in millions):

 

OIBDA

OIBDA increased by $56 million, or 34%, to $223 million for the six months ended March 31, 2015 as compared to $167 million for the six months ended March 31, 2014 as a result of the flow through of higher revenue as noted above and lower restructuring and integration costs related to the PLG Acquisition. Expressed as a percentage of total revenue, OIBDA increased to 15% for the six months ended March 31, 2015 from 11% for the six months ended March 31, 2014.

Depreciation expense

Our depreciation expense increased by $3 million, or 12%, to $28 million for the six months ended March 31, 2015 from $25 million for the six months ended March 31, 2014, primarily as a result of depreciation relating to our new headquarters.

Amortization expense

Our amortization expense decreased by $4 million, or 3%, to $128 million for the six months ended March 31, 2015 from $132 million for the six months ended March 31, 2014.

Operating income

Our operating income increased $57 million to $67 million for the six months ended March 31, 2015 from $10 million for the six months ended March 31, 2014. The increase in operating income was due to the factors that led to the increase in OIBDA noted above.

Interest expense, net

Our interest expense, net, decreased by $18 million, or 17%, to $91 million for the six months ended March 31, 2015 from $109 million for the six months ended March 31, 2014. This was primarily driven by lower interest rates as a result of our refinancing in fiscal 2014 partially offset by additional principal amount of debt outstanding in the current period.

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Other expense

Other expense primarily consists of currency exchange movements associated with our Euro denominated debt and intercompany receivables and payables that are short term in nature. The increase in expense is primarily due to currency exchange gains on our Euro denominated debt of $29 million, offset by losses on our intercompany loans of $27 million.

Income tax (expense) benefit

Our income tax expense increased $14 million to $3 million for the six months ended March 31, 2015 compared to $11 million of income tax benefit for the six months ended March 31, 2014.  The increase of $14 million in the income tax expense primarily relates to a lower pretax loss and the impact of the losses in certain jurisdictions for which no tax benefit could be recorded for the six months ended March 31, 2015.

Net loss

Net loss decreased by $73 million, or 77%, to $22 million for the six months ended March 31, 2015 from $95 million for the six months ended March 31, 2014 as a result of the factors described above.

Noncontrolling interest

Income attributable to noncontrolling interest was $2 million for both the six months ended March 31, 2015 and March 31, 2014.

Business Segment Results

Revenue, OIBDA and operating income (loss) by business segment were as follows (in millions):

 

Recorded Music

Revenues

Recorded Music revenue increased by $52 million, or 4%, to $1,278 million for the six months ended March 31, 2015 from $1,226 million for the six months ended March 31, 2014. U.S. Recorded Music revenues were $477 million and $449 million, or 37% and 37% of consolidated Recorded Music revenues for the six months ended March 31, 2015 and March 31, 2014, respectively. International Recorded Music revenues were $801 million and $777 million, or 63% and 63% of consolidated Recorded Music revenues for the six months ended March 31, 2015 and March 31, 2014, respectively.

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The overall increase in Recorded Music revenue was mainly driven by a strong release schedule as described in the “Total Revenues” and “Revenue by Geographical Location” sections above.

Cost of revenues

Recorded Music cost of revenues was composed of the following amounts (in millions):

 

 

Recorded Music cost of revenues increased by $8 million, or 1%, to $636 million for the six months ended March 31, 2015 from $628 million for the six months ended March 31, 2014. The increase in artist and repertoire costs was primarily due to higher royalty expense associated with higher revenues. The decrease in product costs was primarily driven by lower costs associated with artist services and expanded-rights revenue, specifically the decline in concert promotion revenue, which tends to yield lower margins than our traditional revenue streams. Additionally, the comparative prior period also included $4 million of other integration costs associated with the PLG Acquisition, primarily related to supply chain integration. Expressed as a percentage of Recorded Music revenue, Recorded Music cost of revenues decreased to 50% for the six months ended March 31, 2015 from 51% for the six months ended March 31, 2014.

Selling, general and administrative expense

Recorded Music selling, general and administrative expenses were composed of the following amounts (in millions):

 

 

Recorded Music selling, general and administrative expense decreased by $24 million, or 5%, to $459 million for the six months ended March 31, 2015 from $483 million for the six months ended March 31, 2014. The decrease in Recorded Music selling, general and administrative expense was primarily due to a decline in restructuring costs of $18 million and decreased professional fees and other integration costs primarily associated with the PLG Acquisition, partially offset by an increase in selling and marketing expense primarily due to higher revenue in the current period. Expressed as a percentage of Recorded Music revenue, Recorded Music selling, general and administrative expense decreased to 36% for the six months ended March 31, 2015 from 39% for the six months ended March 31, 2014.

OIBDA and Operating income

Recorded Music operating income included the following amounts (in millions):

 

 

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Recorded Music OIBDA increased by $70 million, or 53%, to $202 million for the six months ended March 31, 2015 from $132 million for the six months ended March 31, 2014 as a result of the flow through of higher Recorded Music revenue and decreased restructuring and other integration costs related to the PLG Acquisition. Expressed as a percentage of Recorded Music revenue, Recorded Music OIBDA increased to 16% for the six months ended March 31, 2015 from 11% for the six months ended March 31, 2014.

Recorded Music operating income increased by $71 million to $87 million for the six months ended March 31, 2015 from $16 million for the six months ended March 31, 2014 due to the factors that led to the increase in Recorded Music OIBDA noted above.

Music Publishing

Revenues

Music Publishing revenues decreased by $14 million, or 6%, to $236 million for the six months ended March 31, 2015 from $250 million for the six months ended March 31, 2014. U.S. Music Publishing revenues were $93 million, or 39% and 37%, of Music Publishing revenues for the six months ended March 31, 2015 and March 31, 2014, respectively. International Music Publishing revenues were $143 million and $157 million, or 61% and 63%, of Music Publishing revenues for the six months ended March 31, 2015 and March 31, 2014, respectively.

The overall decrease in Music Publishing revenue was mainly driven by the unfavorable impact of foreign currency exchange rates which resulted in decreases in performance revenue and mechanical revenue offset by an increase in digital revenue as described in the “Total Revenues” and “Revenue by Geographical Location” sections above.

Cost of revenues

Music Publishing cost of revenues was composed of the following amounts (in millions):

 

 

Music Publishing cost of revenues decreased by $5 million, or 4%, to $135 million for the six months ended March 31, 2015 from $140 million for the six months ended March 31, 2014, primarily driven by the decrease in revenue. Expressed as a percentage of Music Publishing revenue, Music Publishing cost of revenues increased to 57% for the six months ended March 31, 2015 from 56% for the six months ended March 31, 2014.

Selling, general and administrative expense

Music Publishing selling, general and administrative expenses were comprised of the following amounts (in millions):

 

 

Music Publishing selling, general and administrative expense decreased by $2 million, or 5%, to $36 million for the six months ended March 31, 2015 from $38 million for the six months ended March 31, 2014. Expressed as a percentage of Music Publishing revenue, Music Publishing selling, general and administrative expense remained flat at 15% for the six months ended March 31, 2015 from 15% and the six months ended March 31, 2014.

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OIBDA and Operating income

Music Publishing operating income included the following amounts (in millions):

 

 

Music Publishing OIBDA decreased by $6 million, or 8%, to $68 million for the six months ended March 31, 2015 from $74 million for the six months ended March 31, 2014 as a result of lower Music Publishing revenue noted above and $4 million due to the unfavorable impact of foreign currency exchange rates. Expressed as a percentage of Music Publishing revenue, Music Publishing OIBDA decreased to 29% for the six months ended March 31, 2015 from 30% for the six months ended March 31, 2014.

Music Publishing operating income decreased by $6 million, or 15%, to $33 million for the six months ended March 31, 2015 from $39 million for the six months ended March 31, 2014 due to the factors that led to the decrease in Music Publishing OIBDA noted above.

Corporate Expenses and Eliminations

Our OIBDA loss from corporate expenses and eliminations increased by $8 million, or 21%, to $47 million for the six months ended March 31, 2015 from $39 million for the six months ended March 31, 2014. The increase was mainly as a result of costs associated with consolidating our New York office space into our new headquarters of $6 million.

Our operating loss from corporate expenses and eliminations increased by $8 million, or 18%, to $53 million for the six months ended March 31, 2015 from $45 million for the six months ended March 31, 2014 due to the factors noted above.

 

FINANCIAL CONDITION AND LIQUIDITY

Financial Condition at March 31, 2015

At March 31, 2015, we had $2.995 billion of debt, $218 million of cash and equivalents (net debt of $2.777 billion, defined as total long-term debt, including the current portion, less cash and equivalents) and $257 million of Warner Music Group Corp. equity. This compares to $3.030 billion of debt, $157 million of cash and equivalents (net debt of $2.873 billion) and $371 million of Warner Music Group Corp. equity at September 30, 2014.

The $114 million decrease in Warner Music Group Corp.’s equity during the six months ended March 31, 2015 was due to our $24 million net loss and foreign currency adjustments of $90 million.

Cash Flows

The following table summarizes our historical cash flows. The financial data for the six months ended March 31, 2015 and March 31, 2014 are unaudited and are derived from our interim financial statements included elsewhere herein. The cash flow is composed of the following (in millions):

 

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Operating Activities

Cash provided by operating activities was $142 million for the six months ended March 31, 2015 as compared with cash provided by operating activities of $79 million for the six months ended March 31, 2014. The primary drivers of the $63 million increase in cash provided by operating activities were an increase in comparative OIBDA of $56 million, lower comparative cash interest payments of $14 million due to our lower cost of debt and other changes in working capital associated with the operations of the business.

The improvement in cash from operating activities included an improvement in cash used in accounts payable and accrued liabilities of $72 million due to strong working capital management and lower comparative variable compensation cash payments, partially offset by the final PLG Acquisition cash payment. Offsetting the improvement were declines in deferred revenue and accounts receivable as a source of cash due to the timing of contractual advances on large digital service deals and the timing of international broadcasting fee income distributions.

Investing Activities

Cash used in investing activities was $59 million for the six months ended March 31, 2015 as compared with cash used in investing activities of $75 million for the six months ended March 31, 2014. The $59 million of cash used in investing activities in the six months ended March 31, 2015 consisted of $11 million of business acquisitions, $9 million to acquire music publishing rights and $39 million of capital expenditures which included $10 million related to our New York office move. The $75 million of cash used in investing activities in the six months ended March 31, 2014 consisted of $26 million of business acquisitions, $19 million to acquire music publishing rights and $30 million of capital expenditures.

Financing Activities

Cash used in financing activities was $9 million for the six months ended March 31, 2015 compared to $5 million of cash used in financing activities for the six months ended March 31, 2014.

The $9 million of cash used in financing activities for the six months ended March 31, 2015 represented $6 million in amortization payments on the Senior Term Loan Facility, $1 million repayment on our capital lease obligation and a $2 million distribution to our non-controlling interest holders.

The $5 million of cash used in financing activities for the six months ended March 31, 2014 includes $3 million amortization payment on the Senior Term Loan Facility, $1 million repayment on our capital lease obligation and a $1 million distribution to our non-controlling interest holders.

The $173 million proceeds from the Revolving Credit Facility during the six months ended March 31, 2015 were an aggregate of all drawdowns during the current period.  Individual amounts were drawn and repaid in full during the current period, with no Revolving Credit Facility balance outstanding at March 31, 2015. Amounts were drawn during the current period to supplement short-term U.S. operating liquidity needs throughout the period. As of March 31, 2015, a significant portion of our operating cash balance resided outside of our U.S. operating companies.

Liquidity

Our primary sources of liquidity are the cash flows generated from our subsidiaries’ operations, available cash and equivalents and funds available for drawing under our Revolving Credit Facility. These sources of liquidity are needed to fund our debt service requirements, working capital requirements, capital expenditure requirements, strategic acquisitions and investments, and any dividends, prepayments of debt or repurchases of our outstanding notes in open market purchases, privately negotiated purchases or otherwise, we may elect to pay or make in the future. We believe that our existing sources of cash will be sufficient to support our existing operations over the next fiscal year.

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Existing Debt as of March 31, 2015

As of March 31, 2015, our long-term debt, including the current portion, was as follows (in millions):

 

 

 

For further discussion of our debt agreements, please see “Liquidity” in the “Financial Condition and Liquidity” section of our

Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2014.

Covenant Compliance

The Company was in compliance with its covenants under its outstanding notes, Revolving Credit Facility and Senior Term Loan Facility as of March 31, 2015.

Our Revolving Credit Facility contains a springing leverage ratio that is tied to a ratio based on Consolidated EBITDA, which is defined under the Credit Agreement governing the Revolving Credit Facility. Our ability to borrow funds under our Revolving Credit Facility may depend upon our ability to meet the leverage ratio test at the end of a fiscal quarter to the extent we have drawn a certain amount of revolving loans. Consolidated EBITDA differs from the term “EBITDA” as it is commonly used. For example, the definition of Consolidated EBITDA, in addition to adjusting net income to exclude interest expense, income taxes, and depreciation and amortization, also adjusts net income by excluding items or expenses not typically excluded in the calculation of “EBITDA” such as, among other items, (1) the amount of any restructuring charges or reserves; (2) any non-cash charges (including any impairment charges); (3) any net loss resulting from hedging currency exchange risks; (4) the amount of management, monitoring, consulting and advisory fees paid to Access under the Management Agreement (as defined in the Credit Agreement); (5) business optimization expenses (including consolidation initiatives, severance costs and other costs relating to initiatives aimed at profitability improvement); (6) transaction expenses and (7) share-based compensation expense. It also includes an add-back for certain projected cost-savings and synergies. The indentures governing our notes and our Senior Term Loan Facility use financial measures called “Consolidated EBITDA” or “EBITDA” that have the same definition as Consolidated EBITDA as defined under the Credit Agreement governing the Revolving Credit Facility.

Consolidated EBITDA is presented herein because it is a material component of the leverage ratio contained in our Revolving Credit Agreement. Non-compliance with the leverage ratio could result in the inability to use our Revolving Credit Facility, which could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations, financial position and cash flow. Consolidated EBITDA does not represent net income or cash from operating activities as those terms are defined by U.S. GAAP and does not necessarily indicate whether cash flows will be sufficient to fund cash needs. While Consolidated EBITDA and similar measures are frequently used as measures of operations and the ability to meet debt service requirements, these terms are not necessarily comparable to other similarly titled captions of other companies due to the potential inconsistencies in the method of calculation. Consolidated EBITDA does not reflect the impact of earnings or charges resulting from matters that we may consider not to be indicative of our ongoing operations. In particular, the definition of Consolidated EBITDA in the Revolving Credit Agreement allows us to add back certain non-cash, extraordinary, unusual or non-recurring charges that are deducted in calculating net income. However, these are expenses that may recur, vary greatly and are difficult to predict.

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Consolidated EBITDA as presented below is not a measure of the performance of our business and should not be used by investors as an indicator of performance for any future period. Further, our debt instruments require that it be calculated for the most recent four fiscal quarters. As a result, the measure can be disproportionately affected by a particularly strong or weak quarter. Further, it may not be comparable to the measure for any subsequent four quarter period or any complete fiscal year. In addition, our debt instruments require that the leverage ratio be calculated on a pro forma basis for certain transactions including acquisitions as if such transactions had occurred on the first date of the measurement period and may include expected cost savings and synergies resulting from or related to any such transaction. There can be no assurances that any such cost savings or synergies will be achieved in full.

The following is a reconciliation of net loss, which is a U.S. GAAP measure of our operating results, to Consolidated EBITDA as defined, and the calculation of the Consolidated Funded Indebtedness to Consolidated EBITDA ratio, which we refer to as the Leverage Ratio, under our Revolving Credit Agreement for the most recently ended four fiscal quarters, or twelve months ended March 31, 2015. The terms and related calculations are defined in the Revolving Credit Agreement. All amounts in the reconciliation below reflect WMG Acquisition Corp. (in millions, except ratios):

 

 

 

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Summary

Management believes that funds generated from our operations and borrowings under our Revolving Credit Facility will be sufficient to fund our debt service requirements, working capital requirements and capital expenditure requirements for the foreseeable future. We also have additional borrowing capacity under our indentures and Senior Term Loan Facility. However, our ability to continue to fund these items and to reduce debt may be affected by general economic, financial, competitive, legislative and regulatory factors, as well as other industry-specific factors such as the ability to control music piracy and the continued transition from physical to digital sales in the recorded music business. We or any of our affiliates may also, from time to time depending on market conditions and prices, contractual restrictions, our financial liquidity and other factors, seek to prepay outstanding debt or repurchase our or Holdings’ outstanding debt securities through open market purchases, privately negotiated purchases or otherwise. The amounts involved in any such transactions, individually or in the aggregate, may be material and may be funded from available cash or from additional borrowings. In addition, we may from time to time, depending on market conditions and prices, contractual restrictions, our financial liquidity and other factors, seek to refinance our Senior Credit Facilities or our, or Holdings’, outstanding debt securities with existing cash and/or with funds provided from additional borrowings.

 

 

 

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As discussed in Note 14 to our audited Consolidated Financial Statements for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2014, the Company is exposed to market risk arising from changes in market rates and prices, including movements in foreign currency exchange rates and interest rates. As of March 31, 2015, other than as described below, there have been no material changes to the Company’s exposure to market risk since September 30, 2014.

Foreign Currency Risk

Within our global business operations we have transactional exposures that may be adversely affected by changes in foreign currency exchange rates relative to the U.S. dollar. We may at times choose to use foreign exchange currency derivatives, primarily forward contracts, to manage the risk associated with the volatility of future cash flows denominated in foreign currencies, such as unremitted or future royalties and license fees owed to our U.S. domestic companies for the sale, or anticipated sale, of U.S.-copyrighted products sold abroad, that may be adversely affected by changes in foreign currency exchange rates. We focus on managing the level of exposure to the risk of foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations on major currencies, which can include the British Pound, Euro, Japanese Yen, Canadian dollar, Swedish Krona and Australian Dollar, and in many cases we have natural hedges where we have expenses associated with local operations that offset the revenue in local currency and our Euro-denominated debt which can offset declines in the Euro.

Interest Rate Risk

We had $3.001 billion of principal debt outstanding at March 31, 2015, of which $1.294 billion was variable rate debt and $1.707 billion was fixed rate debt. As such, we are exposed to changes in interest rates. At March 31, 2015, 57% of the Company’s debt was at a fixed rate. In addition, at March 31, 2015, all of our floating rate debt under our Senior Term Loan Facility was subject to a LIBOR floor of 1.0%, which is in excess of the current LIBOR rate. The LIBOR floor has effectively turned these LIBOR loans into fixed rate debt until such time as the LIBOR rate moves higher than the floor.

Based on the level of interest rates prevailing at March 31, 2015, the fair value of the fixed rate and variable rate debt was approximately $2.958 billion. Further, based on the amount of its fixed rate debt, a 25 basis point increase or decrease in the level of interest rates would decrease or increase the fair value of the fixed rate debt by approximately $18 million or $17 million, respectively. Due to the LIBOR floor of 1.0%, a 25 basis point increase or decrease in the level of interest rates would have no impact on the fair value of the Company’s variable rate debt. This potential increase or decrease is based on the simplified assumption that the level of fixed-rate debt remains constant with an immediate across the board increase or decrease in the level of interest rates with no subsequent changes in rates for the remainder of the period.

 

 

 

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Certification

The certifications of the principal executive officer and the principal financial officer (or persons performing similar functions) required by Rules 13a-14(a) and 15d-14(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Certifications”) are filed as exhibits to this report. This section of the report contains the information concerning the evaluation of our disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) (“Disclosure Controls”) and changes to internal control over financial reporting (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f)) (“Internal Controls”) referred to in the Certifications and this information should be read in conjunction with the Certifications for a more complete understanding of the topics presented.

Introduction

The Securities and Exchange Commission’s rules define “disclosure controls and procedures” as controls and procedures that are designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed by public companies in the reports filed or submitted under the Exchange Act is recorded, processed, summarized and reported, within the time periods specified in the SEC’s rules and forms. Disclosure controls and procedures include, without limitation, controls and procedures designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed by public companies in the reports that they file or submit under the Exchange Act is accumulated and communicated to a company’s management, including its principal executive and principal financial officers, or persons performing similar functions, as appropriate to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure.

The Securities and Exchange Commission’s rules define “internal control over financial reporting” as a process designed by, or under the supervision of, a public company’s principal executive and principal financial officers, or persons performing similar functions, and effected by our board of directors, management and other personnel, to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, or U.S. GAAP, including those policies and procedures that: (i) pertain to the maintenance of records that in reasonable detail accurately and fairly reflect the transactions and dispositions of the assets of the Company, (ii) provide reasonable assurance that transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in accordance with U.S. GAAP, and that receipts and expenditures of the Company are being made only in accordance with authorizations of management and directors of the Company and (iii) provide reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely detection of unauthorized acquisition, use or disposition of our assets that could have a material effect on the financial statements.

Our management, including the principal executive officer and principal financial officer, does not expect that our Disclosure Controls or Internal Controls will prevent or detect all error and all fraud. A control system, no matter how well conceived and operated, can provide only reasonable, not absolute, assurance that the objectives of the control system are met. Because of the limitations in any and all control systems, no evaluation of controls can provide absolute assurance that all control issues and instances of fraud, if any, within our company have been detected. Further, the design of any control system is based in part upon certain assumptions about the likelihood of future events, and there can be no assurance that any design will succeed in achieving its stated goals under all potential future conditions. Because of these inherent limitations in a cost-effective control system, misstatements due to error or fraud may occur and not be detected even when effective Disclosure Controls and Internal Controls are in place.

Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures

Based on our management’s evaluation (with the participation of our principal executive officer and principal financial officer), as of the end of the period covered by this report, our principal executive officer and principal financial officer have concluded that our Disclosure Controls are effective to provide reasonable assurance that information required to be disclosed by us in reports that we file or submit under the Exchange Act will be recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in SEC rules and forms, including that such information is accumulated and communicated to management, including the principal executive officer and principal financial officer, as appropriate to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure.

Changes in Internal Control over Financial Reporting

There have been no changes in our Internal Controls over financial reporting or other factors during the quarter ended March 31, 2015 that have materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, our Internal Controls.

 

 

 

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PART II. OTHER INFORMATION

 

Pricing of Digital Music Downloads

On December 20, 2005 and February 3, 2006, the Attorney General of the State of New York served the Company with requests for information in connection with an industry-wide investigation as to the pricing of digital music downloads. On February 28, 2006, the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice served us with a Civil Investigative Demand, also seeking information relating to the pricing of digitally downloaded music. Both investigations were ultimately closed, but subsequent to the announcements of the investigations, more than thirty putative class action lawsuits were filed concerning the pricing of digital music downloads. The lawsuits were consolidated in the Southern District of New York. The consolidated amended complaint, filed on April 13, 2007, alleges conspiracy among record companies to delay the release of their content for digital distribution, inflate their pricing of CDs and fix prices for digital downloads. The complaint seeks unspecified compensatory, statutory and treble damages. On October 9, 2008, the District Court issued an order dismissing the case as to all defendants, including us. However, on January 12, 2010, the Second Circuit vacated the judgment of the District Court and remanded the case for further proceedings and on January 10, 2011, the Supreme Court denied the defendants’ petition for Certiorari.

Upon remand to the District Court, all defendants, including the Company, filed a renewed motion to dismiss challenging, among other things, plaintiffs’ state law claims and standing to bring certain claims. The renewed motion was based mainly on arguments made in defendants’ original motion to dismiss, but not addressed by the District Court. On July 18, 2011, the District Court granted defendants’ motion in part, and denied it in part. Notably, all claims on behalf of the CD-purchaser class were dismissed with prejudice. However, a wide variety of state and federal claims remain for the class of internet download purchasers. Plaintiffs filed an operative consolidated amended complaint on August 31, 2011. Pursuant to the terms of an August 15, 2011 stipulation and order, the case is currently in discovery. Disputes regarding the scope of discovery are ongoing. Plaintiffs filed a Class Certification brief on March 14, 2014. The Company’s reply date has not yet been set. The Company intends to defend against these lawsuits vigorously, but is unable to predict the outcome of these suits. Regardless of the merits of the claims, this and any related litigation could continue to be costly, and divert the time and resources of management. The potential outcomes of these claims that are reasonably possible cannot be determined at this time and an estimate of the reasonably possible loss or range of loss cannot presently be made.

Music Download Putative Class Action Suits

Five putative class action lawsuits have been filed against the Company in Federal Court in the Northern District of California between February 2, 2012 and March 10, 2012. The lawsuits, which were brought by various recording artists, all allege that the Company has improperly calculated the royalties due to them for certain digital music sales under the terms of their recording contracts. The named plaintiffs purport to raise these claims on their own behalf and, as a putative class action, on behalf of other similarly situated artists. Plaintiffs base their claims on a previous ruling that held another recorded music company had breached the specific recording contracts at issue in that case through its payment of royalties for music downloads and ringtones. In the wake of that ruling, a number of recording artists have initiated suits seeking similar relief against all of the major record companies, including us. Plaintiffs seek to have the interpretation of the contracts in that prior case applied to their different and separate contracts.

On April 10, 2012, the Company filed a motion to dismiss various claims in one of the lawsuits, with the intention of filing similar motions in the remaining suits, on the various applicable response dates. Meanwhile, certain plaintiffs’ counsel moved to be appointed as interim lead counsel, and other plaintiffs’ counsel moved to consolidate the various actions. In a June 1, 2012 order, the court consolidated the cases and appointed interim co-lead class counsel. Plaintiffs filed a consolidated, master complaint on August 21, 2012.

On December 31, 2013, Plaintiffs filed a Motion for Preliminary Approval of Class Action Settlement. On January 23, 2014, the Court granted preliminary approval of the settlement. As part of the settlement, the Company will make available $11.5 million (less attorneys’ fees, costs, and costs of claims administration and class notice) to compensate class members for past sales of downloads and ringtones. Class members had until May 31, 2014 to file claims, opt-out or object to the Class Action Settlement. No class members made perfected objections to the settlement.  Plaintiffs filed their motion for final approval of the Settlement Agreement on November 26, 2014.  On January 12, 2015, the Judge granted final approval of the settlement.  The settlement became effective on February 25, 2015, after a 30-day appeals period. The Company is currently implementing the terms of the settlement. The Company has recorded what it believes is an appropriate reserve related to these cases, which amount is not material.

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Other Matters

In addition to the matters discussed above, the Company is involved in various litigation and regulatory proceedings arising in the normal course of business. Where it is determined, in consultation with counsel based on litigation and settlement risks, that a loss is probable and estimable in a given matter, the Company establishes an accrual. In none of the currently pending proceedings is the amount of accrual material. An estimate of the reasonably possible loss or range of loss in excess of the amounts already accrued cannot be made at this time due to various factors typical in contested proceedings, including (1) the results of ongoing discovery; (2) uncertain damage theories and demands; (3) a less than complete factual record; (4) uncertainty concerning legal theories and their resolution by courts or regulators; and (5) the unpredictable nature of the opposing party and its demands. However, the Company cannot predict with certainty the outcome of any litigation or the potential for future litigation. As such, the Company continuously monitors these proceedings as they develop and adjusts any accrual or disclosure as needed. Regardless of the outcome, litigation could have an adverse impact on the Company, including the Company’s brand value, because of defense costs, diversion of management resources and other factors and it could have a material effect on the Company’s results of operations for a given reporting period.

 

In addition to the other information contained in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, certain risk factors should be considered carefully in evaluating our business. A wide range of risks may affect our business and financial results, now and in the future. We consider the risks described in Part I, Item 1A“Risk Factors” of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2014, to be the most significant. There may be other currently unknown or unpredictable economic, business, competitive, regulatory or other factors that could have material adverse effects on our future results.

 

Not applicable.

 

Not applicable.

 

Not applicable.

 

Not Applicable

 

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The agreements and other documents filed as exhibits to this report are not intended to provide factual information or other disclosure other than with respect to the terms of the agreements or other documents themselves, and you should not rely on them for that purpose. In particular, any representations and warranties made by us in these agreements or other documents were made solely within the specific context of the relevant agreement or document and may not describe the actual state of affairs as of the date they were made or at any other time.

 

 

 

 

 

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SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the Registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, hereunto duly authorized.

May 11, 2015

 

 

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