Physical sales remain dominant in Germany, where overall music sales rose 1.8% to €1.48bn in 2014 according to industry body BVMI. “While in many other countries physical sound carriers have decreased rapidly within just a few years, CDs and records in Germany last year still accounted for about 75 percent of sales,” said its MD Florian Drücke, noting that physical sales only dropped by 1% in 2014 in contrast to steeper declines elsewhere in the world. BVMI said that streaming had largely driven the 12% growth in digital music revenues last year in Germany, but will publish its full breakdown in March. With seven of the top 10 albums of 2014 from German artists too, it’s no surprise to see local label executives crowing. “We have supported innovative music services like streaming, developed established formats like CDs and downloads, and most of all, never stopped investing in homegrown talent,” said UMG’s Frank Briegmann.
Tools: platforms to help you reach new audiences
Tools: Kaiber
In the year or so since its launch, AI startup Kaiber has been making waves,…