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The DJ desks remain empty (symbol picture): The income from the public playing of music alone fell by 43 percent
Photo: Zeferli / imago images
Composers, lyricists and music publishers earned significantly less money in 2020 from copyrights to their works than in previous years.
The corona crisis has left deep marks, writes the collecting society GEMA in its annual report.
Income from playing or performing music in public alone has slumped by 43 percent - from 407.4 million euros in 2019 to 230.1 million euros last year.
The reason given by GEMA was the nationwide shutdown at times: concerts and other events were canceled.
Restaurants, hotels and shops were closed and therefore did not play any music.
Only 100 concerts were reported to GEMA last year.
In 2019 there were still 21,100.
GEMA also earns money from the use of music on television and radio as well as on the Internet, as well as from the sale of sound carriers.
According to GEMA, it was able to cushion some of the losses.
In 2020, the online area proved to be a “stability anchor”.
The company also recorded only a few losses in terms of radio and television.
In addition, there have been multi-million dollar aid programs for particularly affected members.
In 2020, the company paid out 806.5 million euros to its members, around 100 million euros less than in the previous year.
ime / dpa