At the midyear mark of 2025, two Universal Music Group labels remain far ahead of the rest of the field in current market share, as REPUBLIC and Interscope Geffen A&M are the only two labels to post double-digit percentages for the second straight quarter, according to data from Luminate through June 26, 2025.
After Kendrick Lamar helped spur Interscope to a first-quarter lead among labels, REPUBLIC — whose market share includes Island Records, Mercury Records, Big Loud and indie distributor Imperial — reclaimed first place at the mid-year mark, posting a 12.69% current share, up from the 12.52% it held in Q1 though down from its staggering 15.72% at mid-year 2024, when it surpassed the entirety of the Warner Music Group. Interscope — which includes Verve Label Group in its market share — came in second at a still-formidable 11.56%, down from its 12.67% mark in Q1 but up significantly from its 9.51% halfway through 2024.
REPUBLIC was boosted by the seven-week Billboard 200 No. 1 album I’m The Problem by Morgan Wallen (Big Loud/Mercury), which was released May 16 and quickly became the biggest album of the year so far. Continued success by albums from The Weeknd, Ariana Grande and Taylor Swift, as well as Island’s Sabrina Carpenter and Chappell Roan, also underpinned its industry lead. Meanwhile, a trio of 2024 Interscope releases from Lamar, Billie Eilish and Gracie Abrams continue generating share for the label, as well as new albums from Lady Gaga and Playboi Carti; adding in the 4.32% current share for the Capitol Music Group, and the combined Interscope Capitol Label Group (ICLG) stands at 15.88%.
REPUBLIC and ICLG make up the majority of the Universal Music Group’s industry-leading 36.03% current share at mid-year, a figure that is down from both Q1 2025 (36.82%) and mid-year 2024 (36.37%). Sony Music Group, in second, posted a 26.95% share, which is up significantly from last year’s 26.07% — helped by a huge Bad Bunny album released in January — but down from its 27.37% Q1 mark. At 16.38%, the third major, Warner Music Group, is up both year over year (15.68%) and over Q1 (15.89%), while the indies by distribution ownership come in at 20.64% current share, up from Q1’s 19.92% but down from the 21.88% they held midway through 2024, and higher than their 15.02% overall share when factoring in catalog. By label ownership, the indie community represents 35.49% of the overall market, down from 37.35% midway through 2024.
Helping power WMG’s uptick is the third and fourth ranked labels, Warner Records and Atlantic Records, respectively, which posted 6.21% and 5.75% marks. For Warner Records — which includes Warner Nashville, Warner Latin and catalog label Rhino in its share — that continues a hot streak that has been going for more than a year, essentially static from Q1’s 6.17% and just slightly down from 2024’s 6.30%. Atlantic, meanwhile, is steadily rounding back into form, as its mark — helped by the breakout success of Alex Warren, whose “Ordinary” spent five weeks at No. 1 on the Hot 100 by midyear, and which includes 300 Entertainment and Elektra in its share — represents a steady upward trajectory from last year’s mid-year 5.24% and Q1’s 5.58%, and also its highest share since the end of 2023.
Maintaining its position in fifth place is RCA Records at 4.46%, which is still riding high on the success of SZA, as well as 2025 albums from Tate McRae and Sleep Token, though down from both mid-year 2024 (4.59%) and Q1 2025 (4.83%). Columbia, meanwhile, moves back into sixth place after dipping to seventh in Q1, as its 4.37% current share is enough to beat out Capitol Music Group (inclusive of Motown/Quality Control, Astralwerks, Virgin Music, Blue Note and Capitol Christian Music Group) at 4.32%, which is a dip from 4.56% in Q1, though up from 4.03% midway through last year.
Making a big year over year jump is Alamo Records, which surges from 11th place midway through last year (1.78%) into eighth place at the mid-year mark of 2025 (2.81%) with a more than one percent jump, with its Santa Anna distribution service contributing significantly to its share. Sony Music Latin (2.19%) and Sony Music Nashville (1.87%) round out the top 10.
In overall market share, UMG’s 38.56% share is down slightly from last year’s 38.60%, while both Sony and Warner climbed: the former is up to 27.69% from 27.21% last year; while the latter is up to 18.71% from last year’s 18.22%. Much of those gains were at the expense of the indies’ overall share, which dipped to its 15.02% mark this year from a 16.05% halfway through 2024.
Among the labels, when reordered by overall share, Interscope takes the lead with a 10.36% mark, besting REPUBLIC’s 9.88%, a mirrored reversal of this time last year, when REPUBLIC led with 10.61% and Interscope took second at 9.88%. Jumping to third is Atlantic off the strength of its formidable catalog, sitting at 7.80% and up from 7.61% in 2024, with Warner sitting in fourth at 6.93%, up from last year’s 6.74%. Capitol and RCA swap places either side of Columbia in fifth, sixth and seventh, with Capitol’s 5.95% good for fifth, Columbia’s 5.35% in sixth and RCA’s 5.15% in seventh. Epic Records (2.39%), Sony Nashville (2.01%) and Concord (1.76%) round out the top 10.
The order stays largely the same when looking solely at catalog, though Def Jam Recordings (2.09%) sneaks in at No. 9 ahead of Sony Nashville at 10.
