Epidemic Group¹ publishes 2025 Annual and Sustainability Report: A transformative year investing significantly into AI and bringing the company back to profitable growth in 2026

Epidemic Group publishes its 2025 Annual and Sustainability Report, marking a pivotal year toward its mission to reimagine storytelling through music, sound, video, and AI. The year was characterised by transformational work to set the company up for success in 2026, including further broadening Epidemic's strategy beyond music licensing. The significant operational investments made in 2025 are now allowing Epidemic to deliver the next-generation creative platform to its customers, future-proof its organization, and implement an AI-first approach.

Operational Highlights

• Epidemic Sound launched several key AI services across 2025, including the soundtracking workflow Studio, AI music adaption tool Adapt, and discovery tool Assistant, giving both business and individual creator customers new AI-powered tools for soundtracking. In 1H 2026 additional AI-based services were launched including the audio recognition software Soundproof. 
• Deepened platform integration by bringing Studio natively into Adobe Premiere Pro and DaVinci Resolve.
• Strengthened the group's AI-native capabilities through acquisitions, including Plenty Labs, an AI-native operating system for social ads, and Blenda Labs, an AI-native video entertainment company, concluded in Q2 2026.
• Implemented a streamlined operating model to help our teams deliver for our customers in a faster, more focused manner, supported by AI-enabled ways of working.

Financial Highlights²

• 2025: An investment year. Epidemic Group grew 3 percent in constant currency while investing at a meaningful level in its product portfolio and AI-native transformation, resulting in a negative adjusted EBITDA³ margin for the year.
• 2026: Return to accelerating, profitable growth. The group returned to double-digit revenue growth and a positive adjusted EBITDA margin in H1 2026, with momentum building through the year — revenue growth in constant currency accelerated from 10 percent in H1 to 14 percent in Q2, at a consistent 10 percent adjusted EBITDA margin.

Stockholm, Sweden, 8 July 2026 — Epidemic Group today published its 2025 Annual Report and Sustainability Report. The year was characterized by transformational work to set the company up for success in 2026, which included both a broadened strategy and significant operational investments to move the Epidemic Group’s offering beyond a music catalog and deliver the next generation creative platform to its customers, and also to future proof the organization and implement an AI-first setup. 

In constant currencies, Epidemic Group grew by 3 percent in 2025, reflecting a robust underlying business driven by continued solid growth in the B2B segment. Reported revenues amounted to SEK 1,828 (1,921⁴) million, representing year-on-year growth of -5 percent. This reported growth was negatively impacted by currency movements, especially the USD and EUR, and by Digital Rights Management revenues impacted negatively by a compensation model reset from a large platform partner. The gross margin amounted to 84 (84) percent and adj. EBITDA margin amounted to -3 (8) percent, as the group made a deliberate choice to invest at a meaningful level in its product portfolio and AI-native transformation.

Thanks to the transformational work carried out in 2025, the company's financial performance showed significant improvement in 1H 2026 and in Q2 2026, with the group returning to profitable growth. Reported revenues in 1H 2026 amounted to SEK 948 (909) million, equivalent to a 10 percent increase in constant currencies. This figure accelerated further in Q2 2026, with reported revenues amounting to SEK 480 (430) million, equivalent to a 14 percent increase in constant currencies. This positive development was driven by growth in both the business and individual creator segments. The gross margin amounted to 86 (84) percent in 1H 2026 and 87 (85) percent in Q2 2026. The adj. EBITDA margin increased to 10 percent in 1H 2026 and 10 percent in Q2 2026, equivalent to SEK SEK 99 (-62) million and SEK 49 (-100) million, respectively. 

Sara Börsvik, Interim CEO of Epidemic Group, said: 

"In 2025, we took a significant step towards creating the Epidemic Group, which will become the leading creative platform for businesses and individual creators. This required substantial investment in the product portfolio throughout the year. It also required us to transform our organizational structure to make us an AI-native company.
“While revenue came in below our expectations, the underlying business was robust, and we also invested in and delivered our most ambitious product strategy in the group’s history. The direction is clear. We're expanding from a music licensing business into a creative platform. Human creativity, adaptive AI technology, human-made music and SFX, combined with complete licensing peace of mind – that combination is unique.

“The first half of 2026 started to see the early results of the hard work delivered in 2025, with the group returning to profitable growth. The strategic direction of the company is very clear, and with the new organizational set-up in place, we are in a perfect position to deliver the world’s best creative platform to our customers."

Hjalmar Winbladh, co-founder and Chair of the Board, said:

"The annual report sets out one chapter in a longer strategy. The group's product, technology, and platform capabilities expanded significantly across 2025 and have continued into 2026, most recently with the acquisition of Blenda Labs. What creative platforms will look like as AI matures is still being defined. The group has the foundation, the IP, the customer base, and now the AI-enabled tooling to lead the market in defining it."

Patrick McBride, Managing Director, EQT Growth, said: 

"We continue to be excited about Epidemic Group's vision and its leading position at the intersection of music, video, technology and AI. Given its unique rights model, differentiated creator relationships and distribution, and decades-long understanding of how the internet sounds, Epidemic has a truly exciting role to play in the future of storytelling. We continue to be confident in the team, the strategy, and the long-term opportunity ahead."
Notes
¹Epidemic Sound Group AB is in the process of changing its name to Epidemic Group AB, following ratification by its board. The name change is pending registration with Bolagsverket.
²H1 and Q2 2026 are unaudited.
³Operating profit or loss excluding items affecting comparability.
⁴The numbers in parentheses represent the corresponding period from the previous year.

For more information, please contact:
pressoffice@epidemicsound.com

About Epidemic Group

Founded in 2009 and headquartered in Stockholm, Epidemic Group is a global creative platform on a mission to reimagine storytelling through music, sound, video, and AI. The group comprises Epidemic Sound, the world's leading soundtracking platform; Soundly, its sound effects platform; Overtone Studios, the group's mood and functional music label; Soundproof, an enterprise music-licensing audit service; Plenty Labs, an AI-native marketing operating system; and Blenda Labs, a next generation video entertainment company.  

Epidemic Sound is the group's primary brand. Its 100% IP-owned catalog of more than 55,000 tracks and 250,000 Hollywood-grade sound effects soundtracks more than 3.5 billion daily views on YouTube and TikTok, with over 70% of the top 300 US YouTube channels using its music. Epidemic Sound partners with artists through a 50/50 revenue share, upfront payments, and bonuses, a model that has defined the company since 2009.

The group is backed by EQT, Blackstone, Creandum, Atwater Capital, Alecta, AMF, and IMAS Foundation.