Germany’s GEMA pays €1.15bn in 2025 as streaming and live music grow
Streaming and smaller live events drive steady growth as GEMA navigates industry shifts and AI challenges.
Germany’s music industry is continuing to adapt to changing trends, with new data showing steady growth in both collections and payouts. While some traditional revenue streams are declining, newer areas like streaming and smaller live events are helping to balance the market.
According to Music Business Worldwide, German collection society GEMA distributed €1.15 billion to rightsholders in 2025. This marked a 1.4% increase year-on-year. Total collections also rose slightly to €1.34 billion, up 0.4%, reflecting stable performance in a shifting market.
Live music was one of the strongest areas of growth. Revenues from live and background music increased by 5.6% to €530 million. While stadium shows and major concerts declined, this was offset by a rise in smaller and regional events. GEMA processed significantly more small and medium-sized shows than the year before, highlighting how local live scenes are playing a bigger role in overall revenue.
Digital income also continued to grow. Online collections rose by 5.7% to around €328 million, supported by streaming and new licensing deals with major platforms. In contrast, as Music Ally notes, broadcasting revenues declined, with radio and TV collections falling to €293 million. Reproduction rights saw the sharpest drop, falling by 42% to €26 million, reflecting ongoing changes in contracts and the continued decline of physical formats.
International revenue also showed modest growth, rising 2.9% to €90 million. At the same time, GEMA improved its efficiency, reducing its cost ratio to 14.1%. Behind the scenes, the organisation completed a cloud migration project and introduced AI-powered tools to speed up processing and payments.
AI is becoming an increasingly important factor for the music industry. As MWB points out, GEMA also shared its Transparency Report, which has identified AI-generated music as a “high risk” to its future revenues, but also a “high opportunity”.
GEMA CFO, Lorenzo Colombini highlighted how different sectors are performing. “While our figures show a decline in sectors such as the advertising market and physical audio recordings, the positive trends in the live music and online business sectors more than offset this shortfall.”
Looking ahead, GEMA plans to reduce its commission on on-demand music distribution from 10% to 7% by 2027, a move expected to increase payouts further.
Overall, the figures show a music industry in transition. Streaming and grassroots live events are driving growth, while traditional formats continue to decline. At the same time, new challenges like AI are beginning to reshape how music is created and monetised.