BERLIN, Germany — The German music market is doing wunderbar. It grew 6.1% in 2022 over the earlier yr, to 2.07 billion Euros ($2.19 billion), in response to the BVMI, the nation’s recorded music commerce group. That’s the fourth consecutive yr of development for the market, in addition to the primary time in 20 years that the enterprise – valued on retail income, together with VAT – exceeded two billion Euros.
Though Germany got here late to streaming, which didn’t overtake the nation’s bodily gross sales till 2018, digital accounted for a full 80.3% of retail income in 2022, and streaming got here in at 73.3%. Complete bodily gross sales accounted for 19.7% of income.
The CD remains to be a lot more healthy right here than in most different markets, accounting for a full 12.9% of income, which makes it the business’s second most necessary product after streaming.
Downloads, which by no means took off in Germany to the extent that they did in most different European markets, accounted for simply 2.2%. Different digital income, together with video streaming, added as much as 4.8% of income.
Streaming is gaining quick, too: it grew by 14% in comparison with 2021, whereas CD gross sales declined 17.1%.
Inside the bodily market, vinyl nonetheless lags behind CDs, at a fair 6%. That’s a big distinction from the U.S., the place vinyl gross sales income lengthy since surpassed that of CDs. (Music DVDs and Blu-ray movies accounted for half a p.c of income, whereas different bodily merchandise accounted for 0.3%.) As within the U.S., vinyl gross sales are nonetheless rising — they have been up 6% by income — however not as a lot as in 2021, once they grew 20.1%.
“The truth that the German music business has taken the two billion Euro mark for the primary time in twenty years is sweet information of excess of symbolic worth,” mentioned BVMI chairman and CEO Florian Drücke. “Taking a look at streaming, will probably be thrilling to see how the value will increase we have now seen just lately from the primary suppliers will now play out within the wider market and likewise how quick type movies will be capable of monetize much more.”
