Germany had 139 Bn music streams in 2020 which represents two thirds (65.7%) of sales in Germany according the BVMI, the German music industry association. Figures gathered by BVMI in collaboration with GfK Entertainment that there were a third more streams in 2020 compared to 2019 (107 Bn) and three quarters more than in 2018, when 79.5 billion streams were measured. The number of all streaming views since the start of recording in 2013 adds up to a total of 457 Bn.
Records were also broken over Christmas Eve and New Years Eve. In the “Most Streamed Song Within 24 Hours” category, Mariah Carey’s “All I Want For Christmas Is You” with 4.5 million clicks on 24th December 2020 once again clearly broke its own record from the previous year (3.2 million). In second place is “Last Christmas” by Wham !, which achieved 4.2 million streams. Overall, Christmas titles occupy the top 5 in the evaluation and are responsible for eight of the ten most streamed songs within one day. In addition to “All I Want For Christmas Is You” and “Last Christmas”, Chris Rea’s “Driving Home For Christmas”, Shakin ‘Stevens “Merry Christmas Everyone” and Melanie Thornton’s “Wonderful Dream (Holidays Are Coming)” are also successful.
Dr. Florian Drücke, CEO of BVMI said, “An increase of over 30 billion streams compared to 2019 is very remarkable – a dynamic that we have seen for several years, including in the period before the pandemic. Music is now largely heard online, which is also reflected in the market mix: In the first six months of 2020, two thirds (65.7%) of sales came from audio streaming revenue, along with downloads and video Streaming generated a total of three quarters of sales online. This relevance of the digital market also illustrates why the industry is so vehemently committed to the correct implementation of the European Copyright Directive – without the deviations from the Ministry of Justice, which would have negative effects on the digital licensing business.”
Dr. Mathias Giloth , Managing Director of GfK Entertainment added, “Streaming has long been part of everyday life for many people. In particular, music ‘Made in Germany’, which makes up over half of the top 100 annual streaming charts, is very popular – from genres as diverse as hip-hop, dance or pop. The days on which the most streamed throughout Germany were once again Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve, which set new records with 605 million and 537 million hits, respectively. ”
