While North America has been quick to write off the CD format, the same isn't apparently true over in Germany, where those shiny discs of yore are apparently still flourishing in a stream-loving world.
The news comes via Universal Music's chief in Germany, Frank Briegmann, who had a lot of positive things to say about the CD format and physical sales in general in Germany, Billboard reports.
"Germans love their CDs," Briegmann said at Universal's annual international sales conference today (September 6). "Many only buy this particular format. However, the dynamic growth of streaming is higher than the average of the world market. In other words, the German market is simply transforming itself differently. We are positioned on a number of stable mainstays and this will certainly continue to be the case for some time."
According to Billboard, he went on to explain that in the fourth quarter of 2016 alone, Universal had sold 80 million euros (about $116 million CAD) worth of physical media, as well as more than 20 million CDs throughout the year.
Briegmann said that compared to the rest of the world, the ratio of digital to physical sales was basically opposite. He even went on to explain that the main challenge facing Universal and other labels was to actually get listeners to to stream and/or download music.
"This stability of the physical formats is just as important for our current growth as streaming," he said. "In particular, this stability is something for which many countries envy us."
So there you go: the CD is not dead... in Germany.
The news comes via Universal Music's chief in Germany, Frank Briegmann, who had a lot of positive things to say about the CD format and physical sales in general in Germany, Billboard reports.
"Germans love their CDs," Briegmann said at Universal's annual international sales conference today (September 6). "Many only buy this particular format. However, the dynamic growth of streaming is higher than the average of the world market. In other words, the German market is simply transforming itself differently. We are positioned on a number of stable mainstays and this will certainly continue to be the case for some time."
According to Billboard, he went on to explain that in the fourth quarter of 2016 alone, Universal had sold 80 million euros (about $116 million CAD) worth of physical media, as well as more than 20 million CDs throughout the year.
Briegmann said that compared to the rest of the world, the ratio of digital to physical sales was basically opposite. He even went on to explain that the main challenge facing Universal and other labels was to actually get listeners to to stream and/or download music.
"This stability of the physical formats is just as important for our current growth as streaming," he said. "In particular, this stability is something for which many countries envy us."
So there you go: the CD is not dead... in Germany.
