Universal Music Group Dominating Digital Sales
By Hilary Lewis

Universal Music Group, the biggest of the world's four major music companies, made the most money percentage- and dollar-wise from digital sales in 2008, according to the most recent earnings from each.

But now that the biggest online music retailer, iTunes, is raising prices for popular tracks to $1.29, Universal could be particularly vulnerable if consumers reject iTunes' higher prices and seek out cheaper music. The reason: as of Saturday night, 37 of the 100 most-downloaded songs on iTunes were from UMG artists. Then again, it's possible that Warner Music and EMI, whose digital sales increased noticeably last year from the year before, could see their growing online revenues flatten. As the smaller players, that would have more of an impact on their bottom lines.

On the eve of iTunes' risky price hike, set to begin April 7, and the next round of quarterly earnings announcements, we've sized up how much the major labels made from digital sales in 2008*:

Universal Music Group (home to Lil' Wayne, Rihanna, Taylor Swift and U2):

Recorded-music revenues: $5.5 billion

Digital sales: $1.2 billion, or 22% of recorded-music sales, up 30.5% from 2007

Warner Music Group (home to Flo Rida, Death Cab for Cutie, Metallica, T.I. and Jason Mraz):

Recorded-music revenues: $2.9 billion

Digital sales: $599 million, or 21% of recorded-music sales, up 38% from 2007

EMI (home to Coldplay, Katy Perry, Lily Allen and Keith Urban):

Recorded-music revenues (for the six months ending 9/30/08**): $876 million

Digital sales (for the six months ending 9/30/08**): $185 million, or 21% of recorded-music sales, up 38% from the same six-month period in 2007