Germans listen to less music
Not only has the consumption of live music fallen to practically zero during the pandemic, Germans also listened to around three hours less music at home in 2020/21 than before the pandemic began.
Researchers from the University of Hamburg and Kühne Logistics University have investigated the effects of the pandemic on music consumption and spending on music in Germany. The surprising finding: not only has the consumption of live music fallen to practically zero during the pandemic, Germans also listened to around three hours less music at home in 2020/21 than before the pandemic began.
Radio in particular lost listeners, while premium streaming benefited. Weekly spending on music fell drastically by almost half. At the same time, many are prepared to spend money on live music in online format.
Radio consumption alone fell from around 10.5 to eight hours per week. Possible reasons for this phenomenon: for many, listening to music seems to be strongly linked to mobility - for example, driving to work in the car. Added to this is the strong competition for entertainment from social media offerings or video streaming at home.
Literature reference:
Denk J., Burmester A., Kandziora M., Clement M. (2022): The impact of COVID-19 on music consumption and music spending. PLOS ONE 17(5): e0267640. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0267640
