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 official Top 100 charts include solely paid-for streamed music from premium offerings. As the single charts are value-based charts, ad-funded streamed music is not included. Only the separate streamed music charts include both types of streamed music,” said Hans Schmucker, communication director of Media Control GfK.
 
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.