Austrian music market grew 11% in 2021 with total sales of €190.4 million according to IFPI Austria, the Association of the Austrian Music Industry. Streaming was up 26.5% to €117.4 million with 12.7 Bn songs streamed. The vinyl boom continues with turnover exceeding €10 million.
The second year of the pandemic was characterized by strong growth in streaming sales, an ongoing vinyl boom and a renewed increase in music consumption. While concerts, festivals, clubs and live music continued to face enormous challenges, the digital distribution of music in particular has proven to be comparatively crisis-proof. The Austrian music market has grown for the fifth year in a row.
Streaming services were able to assert themselves as by far the most popular form of music consumption and again achieved a strong increase in sales of 26.5% to €117.4 million. Vinyl records broke the €10 million mark with growth of 12% but CDs fell by 19.5% to €24.5 million in sales. Downloads contributed €4.9 million (-24.7%) and music DVDs €2 million (-19.5%) to total sales. A further €3.5 million (-12.5%) were attributable to merchandising sales and the licensing of music for films, series or advertising (synch rights).
Music streaming has recorded continuous growth in user numbers and sales for 10 years in Austria. With a sales increase of 26.5% to €117.4 million and a 75% share of the recorded music market, streaming is now the most popular music format and the economic backbone of the music industry. 12.7 Bn songs were streamed by Austrian music fans marking a new record (+ 21% compared to 2020). The lion’s share (89%) of the total streaming revenue is generated via subscription services such as Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon unlimited or Deezer. Only 7% is contributed by income from video streams, which are mainly obtained from YouTube. Downloads continue to decline contributing only €4.9 million euros to total turnover.
The vinyl boom continues with more than 400,000 discs sold giving an increase in sales of 12% to €10.2 million. CD sales continue to decline, down 19.5% on the previous year but still represents the second most popular music format in Austria with a market share of 15.4%.
As in 2020, Austrian productions suffered more from the consequences of the pandemic than the international repertoire in 2021. With declining album sales but increasing single sales, the share of Austrian album productions in 2021 was 18% (previous year: 23%) and the share of Austrian singles was almost 5% (previous year: 4%). Austrian acts rely disproportionately on the live business, both for revenue generation and for the purpose of marketing new releases. The negative effects of the pandemic therefore also included the fact that many releases planned for 2021 were postponed and the number of national releases fell overall.
