GVL reports a slight increase in revenues in 2020 to €216.1 million

By Emmanuel Legrand

Germany's music neighbouring rights society GVL has collected a total of €216.1 million in 2020 on behalf of owners of recordings and performers, a slight increase over 2019's €215.5m. A total of €283.3m was distributed in 2020 to GVL members (record labels, performers and musicians). 

  The good performance was mostly linked to an increase in revenues from private copy in 2020, related to  booming computer sales during the pandemic. Revenues from private copy were up 27% to €92.1m. 

  Income from public performances was down 37% to €26.5m, as collections were impacted by the closure of restaurants, bars and other businesses using music. Collections from radio and TV suffered a minor decrease in 2020 to €86.3 million euros. 

Higher revenues from private copy

  Guido Evers and Dr. Tilo Gerlach (pictured, below), co-managing director of GVL, wrote in the foreword to the company's annual report that despite the pandemic, GVL managed to make eight regular distributions to members during the year and maintain a high level of income distributed, which they attribute in part to the ongoing modernisation of the society's IT systems. 

  They wrote: "In view of the fact that clubs, restaurants, hotels and many other establishments were closed, GVL had to cope with considerable decline in revenues from public performances. At the same time, however, the income from private copy exceeded our original estimates, as during the lockdown, sales of computers rose massively. This development, among others, had a stabilising effect on GVL's balance sheet."

  One of the main changes in the structure of GVL during 2020 was the arrival of independent music company's organisation VUT among the shareholders of GVL, alongside record labels' body Bundesverband Musikindustrie eV (BVMI) and the Deutsche Orchestervereinigung eV (DOV) and the Bundesverband Schauspiel eV (BFFS) for the artist side. 

  VUT has been allocated 1,000 shares of GVL that were previously in BVMI's portfolio, leaving the organisation with 12,000 shares of GVL.