[World music market] Growth of the German music market in the 2020s

The German music market has been doing very well since the beginning of the 2000s. Germany is the 4th largest music market in the world in the 2020s, and continues to grow with momentum to overtake the UK in 3rd place and Japan in 2nd place. It is an industry that can be expected to grow in the future, and in some cases it has the potential to grow to the second largest industry in the world.

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growth of digital music

According to German music industry association BVMI, sales in the music industry have maintained growth in the face of the new coronavirus. Growth in the German music market in 2020 was driven by growth in the digital music sector. In 2020, the German market reached 1.79 billion euros in sales, and the digital music business grew further due to the corona crisis, increasing by 20.3% year-on-year. This suggests that subscription services, which are advancing all over the world, are growing considerably. This trend is also seen in the United States, the United Kingdom, and even France, and the momentum does not stop. In the German music market, video streaming such as YouTube is one of the most popular channels, and is expected to continue growing in the future.

Decline of physical music

On the other hand, physical music continues to suffer from sluggish CD sales, and the sales amount continues to fall below the previous year’s level every year. This is because listeners are moving away from physical media such as CDs and DVDs, and with physical media, there is also the hassle of having to prepare a space to put it in the house. Compared to this, download and streaming services are electronic media, so they don’t need to take up space and are very convenient because you can listen to them when you want. Digital music accounted for 71.5% of total sales in the German music industry. Along with Japan, Germany has been known as one of the few major CD countries in the world.

Germany 2021 Market Share by format

According to new announcements from associations and media, online streaming has been at the top of the list and is strong in recent years. According to journalists’ posts, press releases, sales and reports in foreign news distribution, new data will be recorded. Record companies are required to have a global strategy, and each company needs its own strategy.

German hit genre

What kind of music is being listened to in such a booming German music industry? In 2020, hip-hop was the most popular genre for singles, followed by pop. The hip-hop craze isn’t just limited to Germany. Hip-hop and rap are at their peak in the United Kingdom and the United States, and they have become popular genres, surpassing pop music. This is a global trend, except for Japan.

Analog genre in the slump

Amid the slump in the physical market, sales of genres such as jazz and classical music, whose main products were CDs and analog records, are declining. As music streaming becomes the main focus, hip-hop and other genres are on the rise, and traditional genres are declining. Many people think of classical music when they think of Germany. However, the main sales of classical music were physical products with high profit margins. Declining demand for CD albums has also reduced the income of classical artists. The share of artists who sign contracts with labels has also decreased significantly, and some artists have signed contracts on the condition that the income from their concerts is given to the label.

Single Ranking 2021

Germany’s official music charts operated by GfK Entertainment and BVMI. The annual single ranking for 2021 is below.

Album Ranking 2021