European Music Market

Quick Facts about the European Music Industry

• Europe's share of the world's music sales - 37%
• Major music companies based in EU - 2 1/2
• Value of recorded music in 2005 - EU 11 bil
• Digital downloads - internet vs. mobile downloads

France: 40% Internet, 60% Mobile

Italy: 20% Internet, 80% Mobile

• Value of ring tones market - EU 1.3 bil and growing (more than 3x North American sales)

Total Music Sales By Country (2004)

Rank	Country	EUR billion
1	UK	2.7
2	Germany	1.6
3	France	1.5
4	Italy	.5
5	Spain	.5
6	Netherlands	.4

These top six markets represent more than two thirds of total sales across Europe

Expected Developments Through 2009

• Growth of recorded music industry overall - 7.2% (EU 15.5 bil)
• CDs and other physical formats will continue to decline by 2%. The loss will be compensated by digital download sales.
• Online downloads will grow by more than 90% to reach a market share of 11% (EU 1.7 bil)
• Mobile music (including ring tones, etc) is expected to have a market share of roughly 1/3 (EU 5 bil)

Piracy

The highest levels of piracy in Western Europe are in Greece (50%), Italy (26%), and Spain (22%).

Piracy is also highly common in Eastern Europe, e.g. the Czech Republic (40%).

Are you looking for specific information about regional music markets in Europe?
Get more information about the French Music Market or the German Music Market