The Recorded Music Market in Germany, 2003-2014

The recently published figures of the recorded music market in Germany show a picture of stability. Compared to 2013, the recorded music sales increased by 1.8 percent to EUR 1.48bn as reported by IFPI Germany (Bundesverband Musikindustrie – BVMI) in the latest Yearbook on the Recorded Music Industry in Germany (Jahrbuch zur Musikindustrie in Deutschland). The still fast growing revenues from the music streaming business are the main reason for the modest overall sales growth of 1.8 percent. The revenues from music subscription rose by 77.0 percent to EUR 108.0m compared to 2013. In the same period, however, long-play download sales (mainly digital album sales) declined for the first time – by1.4 percent to EUR 145.0m. The single track download sales again decreased – after a sales decline of 4.6 percent in 2013 – by 7.4 percent to EUR 100.0m. The physical music sales are still declining by 1.7 percent in 2014. Nevertheless physical sales are still dominant on the German recorded music market with share of 74.9 percent (without revenues from neighbouring rights collecting society GVL and from synchronisation). The CD is still the most important audio format of the recorded music market in Germany with sales of EUR 985.0m and a market share of 66.7 percent.

The details of the development of the recorded music market in Germany from 2003-2014 are highlighted in the following analysis.

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Is Streaming the Next Big Thing? – An International Market Analysis

After years of recession optimism is back in the phonographic industry. In the current Recording Industry in Numbers by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI 2013) the first but small increase of 0.9 percent in global recorded music sales were reported since 1999.The decreases in CD sales and in other physical formats could be compensated by increases in digital music sales. The revenue streams of music streaming services seem to play a crucial role in the recovery. Spotify, Deezer & Co. report annually growing number of users, which makes streaming the fastest growing segment in the phonographic market.

In a series of blog posts entitled “Is Streaming the ‘Next Big Thing’?” I would like to highlight the boom of music streaming services and their business models. But I also ask whether and how labels and publishers as well as artists benefit from the growing streaming music market. In part 1 the development of the digital music market in different countries with special regard to the music streaming market is analysed in detail.