Popularity of music streaming services continues to grow in Germany

Music streaming services are becoming increasingly popular in Germany, with some 236 billion streams listened to last year, new research by GfK Entertainment and Bundesverband Musikindustrie (BVMI) has revealed.

This is 11% more than 2023, when 213 billion streams were listened to – which itself was 12% higher than the previous year.

Over the past six years, the number of streams being listened to via music streaming services has doubled in Germany, with just 108 billion streams listened to in 2019.

‘Significant’ growth

“The attractiveness of music streaming in Germany continues to grow significantly,” commented Dr. Florian Drücke, chairman of the board of BVMI. “The fact that German-speaking musicians are becoming increasingly successful in the streaming sector is also a promising development.”

Those opting for music streaming services are also increasingly seeking out contemporary music, the data showed, with the share of productions from the 2020s rising from 52% to 56% last year.

German pop

German-speaking acts such as Ayliva, Luciano and Nina Chuba are proving popular, the data showed, representing eight of the ten most streamed artists of this decade. German-language pop streams have increased by 15% from the previous year.

However, the genres with the highest growth rates are country (up 58%) and folk (up 26%), with artists such as Beyoncé, Dasha, Shaboozey, and Hozier contributing to this rise.

Elsewhere, music from the 2010s accounted for 26% of all streams last year, while music from the 2000s accounted for 8%. There were also one-off jumps for classic tracks including Major Tom (Völlig losgelöst) by Peter Schilling and Don’t Stop Believin’ by Journey.

“There is currently only one direction in music streaming: upwards,” added Dr. Mathias Giloth, managing director of GfK Entertainment. “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.” Read more here.