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Music to industry's ears

August 19, 2013

Following many years of stagnation and dwindling turnover, Germany's music industry has reported rising revenues for the first six months of 2013. The market is still dominated by CDs and even vinyl.

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Music CDs
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Germany's music industry reported a moderate 1.5-percent increase in turnover in the first half of the current year.

The industry's lobby association, BVMI, said Monday revenues amounted to 660 million euros ($881 million) between January and June, ending over a decade of stagnation in the sector.

Earnings from the sale of digitalized music surged by 16 percent in the same period, while revenues generated through the sale of conventional CDs and vinyl only dropped by 2.5 percent and thus at a much lower rate than the 7-percent decrease logged for the whole of 2012.

Slow shift to digital

Despite lower revenues, CDs remain the backbone of the German music industry with a market share of 67.5 percent. Once branded as old-fashioned, vinyl has been on its way back since 2006, BVMI maintained. Sales rose by 30 percent in the first six months, compared tom the same period a year earlier.

Copyright law causes a stir in Germany

"German consumers are traditionally somewhat hesitant when it comes to buying things online," BVMI Managing Director Florian Drücke told DPA news agency. "And in contrast to the situation in the US, CDs are still very much in evidence in large numbers in stores across Germany."

Nonetheless, music downloads and streaming platforms are attracting more and more Germans, while others remain unhappy about the strings and restrictions attached to using music through online channels.

hg/ipj (AFP, dpa)