Music streaming exploded in Germany in 2020. As reported by MBW back in August, audio streaming fuelled a recorded music revenue rise in the market of 4.8% year-on-year in the first six months of 2020, up to €783.7m ($856m) on a retail basis.
In the six months to end of June 2020, audio streaming services like Spotify and Apple Music generated approximately €514.9m ($562m) in Germany, which German Music Industry Association BVMI reported was up 20.7% year-on-year.
Germany’s recorded music revenues for the full year haven’t been published just yet, but on Friday (January 8), the total number of audio streams generated in the market last year were made public.
According to analysis released on Friday by GfK Entertainment and BVMI, over 139 billion music streams were generated in Germany last year.
That is almost a third more than in 2019 (107 billion), and three quarters more than in 2018, when 79.5bn streams were recorded in the market.
The total number of streams since 2013 adds up to a total of 457bn, report GfK and BVMI, whose report is based on advertising-based and chargeable music streams with a duration of 31 seconds or more.
The individual days that saw the most streams (in a single day) in Germany were Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve, which set new records with 605 million and 537m streams, respectively, according to GfK Entertainment Managing Director, Dr. Mathias Giloth.
Mariah Carey’s All I Want For Christmas Is You was Germany’s most streamed song within a 24 hour period in 2020 with 4.5m streams on December 24, 2020, breaking its own record (3.2m) from the previous year.
In second place was Last Christmas by Wham!, which achieved 4.2m streams.
Overall, Christmas titles made up 8 of the 10 most-streamed songs within one day.
In addition to All I Want For Christmas Is You and Last Christmas, Chris Rea’s Driving Home For Christmas, Shakin ‘Stevens Merry Christmas Everyone and Melanie Thornton’s Wonderful Dream (Holidays Are Coming) are also successful.
“An increase of over 30 billion streams compared to 2019 is very remarkable.”
Dr. Florian Drücke, BVMI
Dr. Florian Drücke, CEO of BVMI, said: “An increase of over 30 billion streams compared to 2019 is very remarkable – a dynamic that we have seen for several years, including in the period before the pandemic.
“Music is now largely heard online, which is also reflected in the market mix: In the first six months of 2020, two thirds (65.7%) of sales came from audio streaming revenues, along with downloads and video Streaming generated a total of three quarters of sales online.
“This relevance of the digital market also illustrates why the industry is so vehemently committed to the correct implementation of the European Copyright Directive – without the deviations from the Ministry of Justice, which would have negative effects on the digital licensing business.”
Dr. Mathias Giloth , Managing Director of GfK Entertainment, added: “Streaming has long been part of everyday life for many people.
“In particular, music ‘Made in Germany’, which makes up over half of the top 100 annual streaming charts, is very popular – from genres as diverse as hip-hop, dance or pop.
“The days on which the most streamed throughout Germany were once again Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve, which set new records with 605 million and 537 million hits, respectively. ”
Recorded music revenues in Germany grew by 8.2% in 2019 to hit €1.623 billion ($1.82bn) on a retail basis.Music Business Worldwide