German Music Industry Nears $1.2B in Revenues for

The German Music Industry Association (BVMI) reports €1.056 billion ($1.18B) in revenues for H1 2023.

Revenues from streams, CDs, downloads, and vinyl sales are up 6.6% compared to H1 2022. Physical sales were at a similar level as the same period and remained stable (-0.8%). CD sales were down -4.1% compared to 2022 but still contributed 11.2% to 2023’s total sales figures.

Vinyl commands 6% of the total sales market. Together, CDs, vinyl, DVDs, and physical singles generate under one-fifth (18%) of total sales, while the digital market gained 8.4% and accounted for four-fifths of the market accordingly. Revenues from audio streaming continued to grow at 9.7% for H1 2023, while downloads declined by 4.9% in the same period.

“Music sales in Germany continue to develop positively despite the economically complex overall situation,” says Dr. Florian Drücke, Chairman & CEO of the BVMI. “For many years now, streaming has been the well-known driver that has significantly increased the market as a whole, the famous pie, benefiting everyone involved—companies and artists alike.”

“Unfortunately, this circumstance is ignored in the current unbalanced debate about the streaming market. Just as the entrepreneurial perspective is all too often left out, which in recent years has had to adapt again and again to changing market conditions and new players.”

“Today, the way into the music market is literally open to everyone with functioning internet access; artists are free to choose whether and if so, which partnership and services they want to use; accordingly, the cooperations between labels and artists are modular and highly individual in the case of a collaboration,” Drücke continues.

“At the same time, it is our member companies who pay advances, which in the vast majority of cases are not being recouped. This high entrepreneurial risk is also a part of dealing with our industry’s realities and the roles of the respective partners in the market.”