Europeans — especially the French — aren't too keen on digital rights management (DRM) with their music.
Still, the German market for legitimate music downloading grew by a third in the past year, according to new data from BITKOM.
Germans downloaded 26 million singles and albums in 2006, up from 20 million the year before. BITKOM estimates that the number of downloads will grow another 27% this year, reaching a total of 33 million in 2007.
Revenues from music downloading reached Eur48 million in 2006, and are estimated to reach Eur60 million in 2007.
Digital music buyers in Germany tend to be about eight years younger than CD buyers. The market is currently dominated by men, with women making up only a third of German music downloaders.
The worldwide retail value of recorded music in 2005 was $33.5 billion, with the US making up nearly 37% of the world market, according to the most recent available data from the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry. Germany was the fourth largest music market in the world.
Germans, Danes and Brits are the most likely European Internet users to have paid to download music, according to data from InSites Consulting.
For more on the future of music downloading, see the eMarketer Digital Downloading: Music, Movies and TV report.