The previous-year figure was 8.2 million digital products. At the same time, revenue from internet music rose by 45.2% to €20.4 million. “Legal music downloads are continuing their advance,” said media control Managing Director Ulrike Altig. “The last three months brought a new record. Demand has never been higher in a single quarter,” Altig added.
The physical market, by contrast, declined. The number of CDs sold fell by 9.4% year on year and revenue decreased by 8.1%. Positive news came from musicals, where sound carriers recorded unit growth of 55.3% and revenue growth of 53.4%.
For the first time, one million download bundles, products containing more than one track, were counted within a quarter. Volume increased by 63.3% year on year. Individual tracks rose by 36.1% to 10.3 million units.
From January through March, Leona Lewis’s “Bleeding Love” was the best-selling song both online and on CD. Timbaland and OneRepublic placed second in both rankings with “Apologize.” Third place differed: Stefanie Heinzmann’s “My Man Is A Mean Man” took bronze for downloads, while Schnuffel’s “Kuschel Song” occupied that position in the physical quarterly chart.
The most successful CD in the first three months of 2008 was Amy Winehouse’s “Back to Black.” It pushed Ich + Ich’s “Vom selben Stern” into second place. Third place went to the soundtrack for the cinema film “Keinohrhasen.”
