German Market Shrinks 12 Percent

The value of the German live entertainment market has shrunk by 12 percent in a year, according to the country’s largest market research institute.

Figures from a Gesellschaft für Konsumforschung survey, funded by the BDV promoters’ association and weekly trade magazine Musikmarkt, show the business generated sales of euro 3.17 billion in 2009, nearly 20 percent down from the record high of euro 3.87 billion in 2007.

The BDV will likely use the numbers as evidence that the live music business doesn’t need anything that will cause another hike in ticket prices. It’s currently at loggerheads with royalty collection agency GEMA, which is continually seeking higher rates for songwriters.

The 12 percent fall in revenues came at a time when average ticket prices have remained stable, even dropping slightly from euro 34.45 to euro 34.02.

Of the euro 3.17 billion the fans spent in 2009, euro 2.27 billion was spent on musical performances and 0.91 billion on other events such as variety shows and theatre performances.

The possibly comforting news is that revenues of euro 3.17 billion still puts live shows way ahead of what most other sectors of the entertainment market are achieving. Only the sale of books, which earned euro 3.99 billion, did better.

The computer games business grossed euro 1.91 billion, videos pulled in euro 1.56 billion, sales of sound recording media amounted to euro 1.52 billion, and the cinema box office was worth euro 0.97 billion.

The GFK’s full report, which polled 4,000 event-related companies and runs to 36 pages, is available at www.bdv-online.com.