Streaming Tally Joins Germany’s Official Charts

Streaming is now being included in the official German singles charts published by market research institute Media Control GfK, in Baden-Baden, for the German Federal Music Industry Association (BVMI) in Berlin. In addition to the single, long-play, compilation and genre charts, a separate streaming chart has been added to the official charts. The chart gives the same weight to both ad-supported and paid streams. As Dr. Florian Drücke, BVMI managing director, told Billboard: “We are improving the precision of the official German charts as an important benchmark for measuring artists’ success. Only streamed music with a length of 31 seconds or more is included. As music is primarily streamed on a track basis, it will initially only be included in the singles charts for the time being.”

Streaming revenues in Germany grew by 40 percent in 2012, to almost 3 percent of the entire market. German revenues from physical and digital music sales contracted by 3.2 percent, to €1.44 billion in 2012.

Streaming services currently exhibit the greatest potential with young, well-educated people. “In addition, ad-financed streaming services particularly provide a bridge for those who have previously used illegal sources of music, allowing them to listen to music on a legal basis,” Drücke told Billboard.

Source: Billboard