Germany’s recorded music industry grew just 2.3% in 2025
The German Music Industry Association (BVMI) has shared a growth of 2.3% YoY in 2025 for recorded music, marking a notable slowdown.
Germany’s recorded music sales – which includes the sale of CDs, vinyl LPs, and downloads, plus digitial streaming – totalled €2.42 billion in 2025. This represents a 2.3% YoY increase, and a slowdown in growth compared to the previous year.
According to the German Music Industry Association (BVMI), 2025’s recorded music sales equated to €1.33 billion in revenue. While this is positive growth, it’s a drop compared to the previous year’s growth rate of 7.2% YoY. As Music Ally points out, this is a similar story to those of other territories.
As to be expected, digital streaming was the biggest driver for 2025’s growth, with revenues growing 4.1% and representing 84.4% of the industry’s revenue in Germany. Music Business Worldwide notes that digital revenues (streaming and downloads) grew 3.8% YoY to €2.078 billion, accounting for 85.8% of the total market.
The phyical sector generated €345 million in revenue in 2025, but declined by 5.9%. However, within that segment, vinyl sales grew by 2.8%, but, despite its 44.2% share of the physical market, hasn’t managed to overtake CDs, which remain the second strongest revenue driver in 2025.
Dr. Florian Drücke, Chairman of the Board of the BVMI (German Music Industry Association) commented, “The music market continues to develop and change rapidly. Our industry is highly dynamic in the area of innovative partnerships, and revenue growth in Germany is solid in a highly competitive environment.”
Drücke mentioned the “increasing penetration of AI” across the industry, noting that the industry is in “a very challenging phase”. He stated that the BVMI is particularly interested in expanding the digital licensing business, “based on strong copyright law that must not be diluted”.