Sony’s music label in Ireland boosts its sales and profits despite the pandemic

Sony Music’s Irish operation, whose local artists include the singers Damien Dempsey and Christy Moore, boosted its sales to more than €15.2 million throughout the first year of the pandemic.

The label, whose roster of global stars includes Justin Timberlake and Miley Cyrus, boosted revenues by 4.3 per cent. It also more than doubled its profits in the year to the end of March 2021, to about €1.16 million.

The financial statements for Sony Music Entertainment Ireland show the local arm of the music giant has racked up accumulated profits of €5.7 million in the Irish market. It has not paid a dividend for several years to the UK division of Sony that control its Irish operation.

The label derives its Irish income from record sales of its Irish artists, as well as distributing records in Ireland for its global stars, who include Avril Lavigne and Little Mix. The Sony label also controls catalogues for music giants such as Elvis Presley, Dolly Parton and Bob Dylan.

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In addition to record sales, the Irish arm also collects revenue for Sony for local radio plays for all of its artists, via the licensing organisation, Phonographic Performance Ireland.

The 11 staff of Sony’s local arm were paid an average of more than €100,000 each over the year, the accounts show. Sony Music’s Irish managing director, Annette Donnelly, is among the three directors of the division who shared €455,000 over the year.