According to the Federal Association of Music Industry (BVMI) in Berlin, Germans are still buying more CDs than other Europeans. Last year, CD purchases accounted for two-thirds of Germany's total music sales, which overall amounted to EUR 1.45 billion and registered a gain of 1.2 percent in 2013 after 15 years of decline.
"The Germans love music that they can touch with a physical CD," Dieter Gorny, chairman of BVMI, told Billboard. "That is why vinyl is experiencing a big comeback, with sales increasing 47.2 percent to a total of 29 million euros. Although 'black gold' currently only accounts for 2 percent of the total market, more and more record companies are releasing vinyl for passionate collectors and fans." Gorny attributes the boom in physical audio media to the fact that Germany still has a very dense network of over 4,000 retail outlets for recorded music. “CDs can be bought within a short space of time from anywhere in Germany; at the same time, the proportion of CDs ordered online is continuing to grow.”