The numbers for Germany’s record business are in.
Recorded music revenues in the market, generated from music streaming, as well as from the sales of CDs, vinyl LPs and downloads, reached USD $2.17 billion (on a retail basis) in 2022.
That’s according to new figures published by German Music Industry Association (BVMI) on Tuesday (February 28), and marks the third consecutive $2 billion year for the market’s record business.
The record industry in Germany generated a total of €2.07 billion ($2.17bn) in 2022, which was primarily driven by music streaming.
That €2.07 billion revenue figure in 2022 marked growth of 6.1% YoY.
BVMI notes that last year’s revenue haul marks the first time in 20 years that the two billion Euro mark had been surpassed for recorded music revenues in Germany.
According to the BVMI, the last time this was achieved in the market was in 2002, when Germany’s recorded business generated €2.21 billion.
Unlike 20 years ago, however, today the majority of revenues (73.3%) in the market come from audio streaming. BVMI reports that audio streaming grew by 14% YoY in Germany in 2022.
Elsewhere, revenues from physical music, including sales of vinyl and CD accounted for 19.7% of the market.
Despite seeing a decline of 17.1% YoY, the second largest source of revenue in Germany in 2022 was the CD with a market share of 12.9%.
Vinyl came in third place as in the previous year with a 6% share of the recorded music market in Germany.
The 5.1% increase seen by vinyl last year, however, was significantly lower than growth seen the previous year, when the format grew 20.1% YoY.
Overall, the digital business grew by 11.7% in 2022, while the overall physical market declined by 11.9%.
“The fact that the German music industry has [reached] the €2 billion mark for the first time in two decades is good news.”
Dr Florian Drücke, BVMI
Commenting on the results, Dr Florian Drücke, Chairman & CEO of the BVMI, said: “[Growth] of 6.1% [in 2022] means growth for the fourth year in a row. The fact that the German music industry has [reached] the €2 billion mark for the first time in two decades is good news.
“Looking at streaming, it will be exciting to see how the price increases we have seen recently from the first providers will now play out in the wider market and also how Short Form Videos will be able to monetise even more.”Music Business Worldwide