MBW’s Stat Of The Week is a series in which we highlight a data point that deserves the attention of the global music industry. Stat Of the Week is supported by music data analytics firm Chartmetric.
The volume of streams generated annually by the world’s fourth-largest recorded music market, Germany, grew 11% YoY in 2024.
According to new data published by GfK Entertainment and the German Music Industry Association (BVMI), the market generated 236 billion streams last year, which translates to 19.6 billion streams per month on average in 2024.
Germany is the world’s fourth-largest recorded music market, behind the United States, Japan, and the United Kingdom, respectively.
The 236 billion streams stat reported by BVMI includes both ad-funded and premium streams, which were streamed for 31 seconds or longer between January and December 2024.
The organization noted that the volume of streams in the market has more than doubled within six years. In 2019, around 108 billion streams were registered in Germany.
BVMI also revealed that December 24, 2024, was the “most streamed day of all time” in Germany, with 927 million streams registered that day alone, around 100 million more than the same day in 2023.
The combined ad-supported and premium streaming volume stats for the market arrive ahead of the publication of Germany’s FY 2024 recorded music market revenue report, which BVMI traditionally releases toward the end of Q1.
BVMI reported in July last year that in the first half of 2024, Germany generated EUR€1.136 billion (approx. $1.23bn) on a retail basis from music streaming as well as from the sales of CDs, vinyl LPs and downloads. That figure was up 7.6% YoY
According to BVMI, German-language pop was one of the genres with the highest rates of streaming volume growth in the market in 2024. The volume of streams for German-language pop music in 2024 grew 15% compared to the previous year.
The volume of Country streams, meanwhile, grew 58% YoY, and folk grew 26% YoY, driven, according to BVMI, by acts such as Beyoncé, Dasha, Shaboozey, and Hozier.
BVMI also noted in its latest report that “current songs are particularly popular with music fans” in Germany, with music produced in the 2020s accounting for 56% of all streams in the market last year (up from a 52% share in 2023).
Music produced in the 2010s (between 2010 and 2019), contributed 26% of all streams in Germany in 2024, while music produced between 2000 and 2009 accounted for 8% of all streams in the market last year.
Contemporary German-language stars like Ayliva, Luciano and Nina Chuba were also “particularly popular” in Germany last year, according to BVMI.
According to BVMI, German-speaking acts represented eight of the market’s Top 10 most streamed artists of this decade.
Commenting on the latest set of stats from BVMI, Dr. Florian Drücke, Chairman of the BVMI Board, said: “The attractiveness of music streaming in Germany continues to grow significantly, which is impressively underlined by the number of hits.”
“The fact that German-speaking musicians are becoming increasingly successful in the streaming sector is also a promising development.”
Florian Drücke
Added Drücke: “The fact that German-speaking musicians are becoming increasingly successful in the streaming sector is also a promising development.”
Dr. Mathias Giloth, Managing Director of GfK Entertainment, said: “There is currently only one direction in music streaming: always upwards.
“The growth in the German pop sector is particularly pleasing, as it is extremely diverse thanks to exciting collaborations with hip-hop or dance acts, for example.
“The playlists were particularly popular on Christmas Eve: thanks to 927 million hits, it was the most streamed day of all time, with almost 100 million more streams than in the previous year.”
Chartmetric is the all-in-one platform for artists and music industry professionals, providing comprehensive streaming, social, and audience data for everyone to create successful careers in music.Music Business Worldwide
