WARNER MUSIC Ireland saw revenues fall by more than 20 per cent in 2007 to €10.5 million, according to accounts just filed with the Companies Office.
The Irish arm of the international music label, whose roster includes Madonna, The Red Hot Chili Peppers, REM and Damien Rice, turned a pretax profit of €483,000, down from €1.2 million in 2006. This was despite a significant drop in the cost of sales from €8.1 million to €6.4 million.
Warner Music Ireland did not pay any dividend to its parent and the profit was carried forward in reserves. At the end of the year, it had retained profits of €3.8 million. The four directors of the company - Patrick Vien, Simon Robson, Padraic Dever and country manager Pat Creed - shared remuneration of €248,656, up from €227,399 in 2006.
An average of 10 people were employed by Warners during 2007 and the total cost of wages, salaries, pensions and social welfare contributions was €598,304.
No one from the label was available to comment on the accounts.
Record labels have been suffering as revenues from digital downloads have not offset the drop in compact disc sales.
Warner Music is one of four major record labels pursuing an action against Eircom, claiming it is responsible for music illegally downloaded using its network. During hearings in April, the labels said 20 billion music tracks were illegally downloaded worldwide in 2006. They estimate that for every track sold, 20 illegal ones are downloaded.
Notes to the accounts state its parent, Warner Music Group in the US, is "embracing the spectrum of opportunities presented by digital technology to monetise and deepen the connection between fans and artists".
