Pandemic provides a streaming booster
According to the German Music Industry Association (BVMI), sales in the music industry in Germany continued to grow in 2021. Recorded music sales and revenue from the streaming business generated a total of 1.96 billion euros, an increase of 10 percent compared to 2020.
According to the BVMI's press release, by far the largest share was generated digitally, with 76.4 percent of revenue coming from online music use. This means that the industry in Germany is now also heading towards a digital share of almost four fifths, which has long been a reality in the Scandinavian countries in particular.
Audio streaming, which has been growing dynamically for years, once again increased significantly by 18.6%. Although the growth curve was somewhat flatter compared to the previous year (2020: +24.6%), this form of music usage from the cloud was able to increase its share of the overall market to 68.3% compared to the previous year (2020: 63.4%).
The CD remains in second place with a 16.3% share of sales, a decline of 16.7% compared to the previous year. Vinyl is once again in third place in the format ranking. Thanks to an increase in sales of 20.1%, vinyl has a respectable overall market share of 6% in the age of audio streaming. Not least because of this, the contribution of the physical market to sales remains fairly stable at 23.6% despite a decline of 9.1%. Downloads still account for 3 percent of revenue.
