Germany’s recorded music revenues reached EUR €2.208 billion (on a retail basis) in 2023, up 6.3% YoY.
That’s according to new stats published by the German Music Industry Association (BVMI) on Tuesday (March 6) for the world’s fourth-largest recorded music market.
That €2.208 billion annual revenue figure for Germany’s recorded music market in 2023 includes recorded music revenues generated from music streaming, as well as from the sales of CDs, vinyl LPs and downloads.
It converts to USD $2.389 billion at the average annual exchange rate published by the IRS.
Germany’s recorded music market in 2023 was primarily driven by streaming, with audio streaming accounting for 74.8% (€1.651bn) of the market in 2023, according to BVMI.
In January, BVMI and GfK Entertainment reported that the volume of streams generated in Germany hit 213 billion last year, which was up 12% versus 2022 when 191 billion streams were achieved.
BVMI also noted in January that 9 of the 10 most streamed artists with titles from this decade (that were streamed in 2023) were German-speaking and that local acts such as Ayliva, Luciano and Nina Chuba were “particularly well received” by listeners in Germany last year.
Elsewhere in the German recorded music market, the CD was the second largest format after streaming in 2023, according to BVMI, accounting for 11.3% of the market in 2023, versus 12.9% in 2022.
Revenues from Vinyl sales accounted for 6.3% of the German recorded music market in 2023, compared to 6% in the prior year (2022).
The entire physical music market in Germany (including vinyl and CDs) grew slightly by 0.01% YoY in 2023.
In addition to Germany’s annual recorded music revenue figures, BMVI has published findings from a study carried out by the Oxford Economics Research Institute titled, The German music industry: investments and payments to artists.
BVMI said that the aim of the report was “to investigate the extent to which German music labels have reinvested their income, which has increased again in recent years due to music streaming, in the marketing of new music and the development of new talent and passed it on to their artists in the form of payments”.
According to BVMI, payments by the record labels in Germany to artists have “more than doubled” in 12 years.
Added BVMI: “While artists received around 21% of music companies’ revenues in 2010, in 2022 around 43% of revenues were passed on to them through direct payments such as advances and royalties”.
Commenting on the results of the report, Dr. Florian Drücke, Chairman & CEO of BVMI, said: “Payments to artists have risen by 132% since 2010, while the labels’ income has increased by 17 % in the same period.
“The special entrepreneurial risk for the music companies is particularly evident when looking at the advances, which are paid regardless of success.
“Another important finding is that the companies invest a third of their income each year in the development and marketing of new talent and new music.
“With this study, we are helping to ensure that the perspective of our members and thus the entrepreneurial dimension is included in the debate on fair distribution and changing payment models, also in order to further objectify the basis for the current dialogue on this topic.”
Added Dr. Florian Drücke, Chairman & CEO of BVMI: “Industry revenue grew significantly again in 2023, and the relevance of audio streaming remains high.
“The positive market development ultimately benefits everyone involved, as the figures published today on investments and payments by the music industry show.”
“Industry revenue grew significantly again in 2023, and the relevance of audio streaming remains high.”
Dr. Florian Drücke, BVMI
Drücke continued: “The fact is that the streaming business has been helping the industry to achieve significant growth again in recent years, from which both labels and artists are benefiting.
“Precisely because we are now in the middle of the next evolutionary stage in the context of the increasing use of AI, it is crucial that we work together as an industry to ensure that human creativity remains the core and benchmark of our work in the future. This can only succeed if all industry players, creatives and their partners on the corporate side, pull together.”Music Business Worldwide
