Berlin, Germany. Photo Credit: Fernando Pascullo
GEMA has reported a 4.3% year-over-year (YoY) revenue increase for 2024, when its live music collections spiked by nearly 17%.
The German society revealed these and other figures in an English-language summary of its 2024 annual report, which points to €1.33 billion (currently $1.45 billion) in total revenue for the year.
Behind that sum – and thanks in part to a cost-rate decrease – GEMA made north of $1.23 billion/€1.13 billion (up 4.7% YoY) available for distribution to its over 98,000 members (up 5,460 YoY, including 111 publishers), the document shows.
By category, live performances and public establishment usages kicked in the most revenue for 2024, at a record $548.61 million/€502.04 million (up 13.1% YoY).
And while that doesn’t exactly come as a surprise, GEMA emphasized the initially mentioned 16.9% YoY hike for concerts and festivals, which delivered $213.05 million/€194.94 million.
All told, just shy of a quarter of a million live shows took place in Germany (population 84 million) last year, attracting about 70 million total attendees through April 2025, GEMA indicated. And the live collections improvement helped to offset areas where revenue was flat (like TV and radio broadcasting, at $264.47 million/€242.0 million, up 1.1% YoY) or declined.
Most notable on the latter front is streaming’s 4.1% YoY collections dip to $315.38 million/€288.51 million. (Besides traditional on-demand streaming, the category includes revenue from social media licensing.)
Nevertheless, the overarching online category managed to achieve modest YoY growth for GEMA ($338.18 million/€309.45 million, up 1.2% YoY) due mainly to a material increase from downloads ($22.48 million/€20.57 million, up 362% YoY).
That jump (which GEMA attributed to a licensing deal for children’s music boxes) is particularly noteworthy in light of the 16% YoY recorded revenue decline BVMI identified for downloads in H1 2024.
Elsewhere in its 2024 report, GEMA confirmed a 6.9% YoY boost for international revenue, $95.92 million/€87.8 million, though the uptick resulted in part from “catch-up effects from the coronavirus pandemic.”
Similarly, Audoo-partnered GEMA acknowledged a 20% YoY falloff on the statutory licensing side ($64.14 million/€58.70 million total in 2024), but chalked up the slip to an “exceptionally high” 2023 sum that benefitted from substantial retroactive payments.
Addressing the results, GEMA CEO Tobias Holzmüller touted his organization’s “stability” against the backdrop of, among other things, “disruptive technological developments.”
“We were able to distribute over EUR 1.13 billion to our members,” the GEMA head of about 18 months communicated in part. “This is not only an economic achievement but also an expression of our responsibility towards music creators in Germany and around the world.
“At the same time, we remain firmly committed to fair rules for the digital use of music – including in relation to major platforms and AI providers. … We will continue to help shape that protection with innovative foresight and our strong advocacy for legal clarity,” proceeded Holzmüller, whose organization is spearheading copyright suits against Suno and OpenAI.
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