The internet was among the most used types of media in terms of daily usage time in 2020, mainly for watching online videos, shopping online, using social media, reading articles and blogs, as well as e-learning and online banking. The internet has long been crucial for the digitalization process, as it can combine those types of media which used to exist separately – text, audio and video – on one device. Millions of German internet users went online as they found themselves facing lockdowns and restrictions in daily life caused by the pandemic.
Digitalization in media does not sweep through all its segments at the same time. Some may be progressing with digitalization more rapidly than others. One such example is music. Digital music revenue in Germany only grew in recent years. Digital music sales also significantly exceeded physical ones during the last decade. However, digital music sales themselves dropped year after year, with a contributing factor undoubtedly being increased opportunities to listen to music on streaming services, either for free with certain limitations like advertising, or unlimited for a monthly subscription fee. Subscriptions to video on demand services have increased in recent years, while DVD purchases have decreased, as has physical video renting. Video on demand viewing lent itself well to daily schedules changed by lockdowns and working from home. E-commerce and downloads were the main sales channels for video content in Germany.
