German music collection society GEMA has reported a 4.3% YoY increase in revenue and 4.7% YoY bump in royalty distributions for 2024.
GEMA represents the copyrights of around 98,000 members (songwriters, composers, and publishers) along with some 2 million copyright owners from around the world whose works are consumed in Germany.
In its annual report for 2024, released on Tuesday (April 8), GEMA reported income of EUR €1.332 billion, or USD $1.442 billion at the average exchange rate for 2024. That’s up from €1.277 billion a year earlier.
Of that, GEMA distributed €1.133 billion ($1.226 billion) to rightsholders, up from €1.082 billion in 2023.
That gave the collection society a cost rate of 14.9%, down from 15.2% in 2023.
With respect to cost rate, “we are not yet where we want to be in international comparison, but we are on the right track,” said Lorenzo Colombini, GEMA’s Chief Financial Officer.
“The result clearly shows that GEMA works efficiently and is consistently improving and digitising its processes. Furthermore, we are investing in new services and technologies to ensure that we remain fit for the market and the expectations of our members and customers in the future.”
The collection agency’s fastest growth rate was in public performance rights, which jumped 13.1% YoY to €502.0 million ($543.3 million), thanks in part to what GEMA described as a “boom” in live concerts, with 249,610 events over the course of the year, attracting 69.87 million attendees.
Collections from online music were unchanged from the year before at €310.1 million ($335.6 million), while radio/TV collections rose 1.2% YoY to €308.4 million ($333.8 million).
“Positive development in the video-on-demand sector continued, while music-on-demand‘s market share declined,” GEMA said.
Notably, in the previous year’s report, GEMA reported “slight growth” in online music revenues, meaning that growth in this segment over the past two years amounted to just 3%.
“2024 was marked by geopolitical tensions, economic uncertainty, and disruptive technological developments. In this environment, GEMA demonstrated stability – financially, organizationally, and culturally,” GEMA CEO Dr. Tobias Holzmüller said.
Holzmüller added that the 2024 distribution “is not only an economic achievement but also an expression of our responsibility towards music creators in Germany and around the world.”
GEMA’s 2024 numbers were somewhat softer than the numbers for Germany’s recorded music industry. The country’s Federal Association of the Music Industry (BVMI) said earlier this year that recorded music sales in Germany rose 7.8% YoY €2.38 billion ($2.58 billion) in 2024, with digital music surpassing the two-billion-euro mark for the first time.
Digital music brought in €2.001 billion ($2.17 billion), up 11.2% YoY and accounting for 84.1% of all music sales in the world’s fourth-largest music market.
Excluding downloads and other digital sales, streaming saw growth of 12.6% YoY, accounting for 78.1% of music revenue, BVMI said in a report issued in February.
“We remain firmly committed to fair rules for the digital use of music – including in relation to major platforms and AI providers.”
Dr. Tobias Holzmüller, GEMA
Over the past year, GEMA has been notable for its work to address issues related to artificial intelligence. The org says it’s the first collection society in the world to file lawsuits against developers of generative AI, having sued ChatGPT maker OpenAI last November, alleging the company used copyrighted lyrics without a license to train its AI.
Earlier this year, GEMA filed a lawsuit against AI music platform Suno, alleging the company had illicitly used music recordings to train AI. (Suno, along with rival Udio, is also facing a copyright lawsuit in the US, brought by record companies owned by the three music majors, Sony Music Group, Universal Music Group, and Warner Music Group.)
Also last year, GEMA proposed a licensing model for use of copyrighted music in AI development, and issued an “AI charter” meant to guide the use of AI technology in music, and assert the rights of human creators in developing AI-driven music-making technology.
“We remain firmly committed to fair rules for the digital use of music – including in relation to major platforms and AI providers,” Holzmüller said.
“Creativity needs protection, and copyright remains a fundamental pillar of our culture. We will continue to help shape that protection with innovative foresight and our strong advocacy for legal clarity.”
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