I browsed through Vivendi's second quarter earnings release (read PDF) this morning. Things look good for Vivendi, but not so good for its Universal Music Group division.

Vivendi's second quarter revenues were up 6.4% to 5.2 million, while its first half revenues rose 7.4% to 10.22 million.

Universal Music Group's second quarter revenues dropped 0.8% in the second quarter while revenues sank 4.9% in the first half of 2007. The flat second quarter is practically a big win for a music company these days. Let's use the term "relatively optimistic," shall we?

Second quarter digital revenues rose 49% year over year and were up 51% at the year's midpoint.

Driven by the success of World of Warcraft, Vivendi Games' revenues was up 68.9% in the first half of the year. That's a good way for entertainment companies to have a balanced portfolio...have a games division to offset the lagging music division.

Additional reading:

• Vivendi's Q1 2007 earnings release. UMG's Q1 revenues were down 8.7 year over year. Digital sales were up 54% and represented 15.7% of revenues.
• Vivendi's 2006 earnings report. UMG's 2006 revenues were up 1.3%. Publishing grew 3.3%. Digital sales were up 84% and represented 9.6% of 2006 revenues.

[music jobs] Director of Content at Dada Entertainment; New York, NY.