Sales of Swiss music labels fell again in 2015
Swiss music labels saw another decline in sales in 2015. The decline in the traditional CD market continued. But even in the digital market, established download services came under pressure from streaming providers.
The approximately 35 music labels affiliated with the industry association IFPI Switzerland generated total revenue of 81.8 million Swiss francs last year. That is 3.5 percent less than the previous year, according to the annual report released on Thursday. Since 2001, the Swiss music market has thus shrunk by 73 percent.
Streaming services are growing significantly
After the digital market (downloads and streaming) had temporarily declined by 3 percent the previous year, it grew again in 2015 by just under 7 percent to 39.9 million francs. This growth was driven by streaming services, which increased by 30 percent to 15.3 million Swiss francs. This more than offset the 4 percent decline in revenue from the download business, which fell to 24.6 million Swiss francs. According to the association, in addition to existing providers such as Spotify and Deezer, Apple also entered the streaming segment as a major player in 2016. The decline in CD sales and other physical media continued. The 12 percent decline in revenue to 42 million Swiss francs follows the general trend of CDs being replaced by online music consumption. The IFPI figures do not include direct imports by CD retailers and consumers from abroad. According to the association, direct imports have risen steadily since 2011 due to the weak euro and currently account for an estimated 30 percent of CD purchases by Swiss consumers. The revival of vinyl records, which has been ongoing for several years, led to a 50 percent increase in sales last year, reaching 2.5 million Swiss francs. According to the press release, vinyl LPs last generated this level of sales in 1993.
Revenue from YouTube and similar platforms is marginal
It is striking that, even in the eleventh year of tracking the digital market, the physical market still held a slight lead. Physical audio media—primarily CDs and LPs—still accounted for about 51 percent of the association members' revenue. The association notes that music labels’ revenue from advertising on YouTube channels has not really taken off. Although music consumption via YouTube is extremely popular in Switzerland as well, revenue from ad-supported video streaming contributed only about 600,000 francs to total revenue—less than one percent.
Successful Swiss Acts
Last year, two Swiss acts—namely Lo&Leduc and Patent Ochsner—made it into the annual Top 10 of the official Swiss album chart. A total of 20 albums by Swiss artists were represented in the Top 100. This figure is slightly lower than in previous years, but this is due to the fact that some of the most successful Swiss artists did not release any albums in 2015. (SDA)
