Belgian music industry grows 10% in first half of 2019 with 71% of revenue coming from digital sales according to BEA, the Belgian Entertainment Association. Paid streaming increased by 35% and represented 62% of total revenue which together with downloading accounted for 71% of total revenue.
Revenue in the first half of 2019 was €29.1 million driven a 35% increase compared to the same period last year mainly driven by the increase in streaming which contributed Euros 18 million.
Paid music streaming via services such as Spotify, Apple Music, Deezer, etc. continues to gain popularity and streaming is most popular music format in Belgium. The ease of use, offer and support of record companies and streaming providers is responsible for its continued growth. Downloads sold €2.6 million (9% of the total).
With a turnover of €8.5 million, music in physical format represents 29% of total turnover. This is a decrease of 15% compared to the same period last year. CD sales amounted to €5.7 million, a 23% decrease compared to last year. Vinyl sales generated just over €2 million in revenue, a slight increase of 3% compared to the previous year. Vinyl is the only growing physical format and continues the trend that has been seen for the past few years.
SOURCE: BEA Music – Digital share of revenue 2018 H1 compared to 2019 H1
Patrick Guns, President of BEA Music and Managing Director of Universal Music Belgium: “It is fantastic to see that the total turnover of the music sector in the first half of the year shows a strong growth of 10%. The continued growth of streaming services, in particular, indicates that the path towards digital consumption continues to develop. And since the growth potential of streaming services in Belgium is still significant, the outlook for the rest of the year is very good. We expect 2019 to be a pivotal year with significant growth in music sales throughout the year. It is clear that the many local and international releases this spring, combined with the many ways to discover music (physical, download and streaming), have led to the growth of the sector.”
BEA Music represents music distributors and producers in Belgium and is a member of BEA, the federation of the entertainment industry in Belgium. BEA is a group of organisations active in the production and distribution of films, games, music and video and further information on its activities can be found here.
