Overview
Serenade Smart Formats are chart-accredited in Germany and tracked by GfK Entertainment. This comes under the rules of the Bundesverband Musikindustrie (BVMI). GfK also compiles charts for other GfK European regions.
The German charts work differently to others: they are value-based rather than unit-based. What counts toward chart position is sales revenue, not just the number of units sold — so a higher-priced release could potentially outrank a lower-priced one even with fewer copies sold.
GfK is the primary reference point for any rules. Where anything below is unclear for your release, contact GfK directly or reach out to Serenade, we're happy to guide you through it.
Contacts
Serenade — anything about your products, formats, artwork, manufacturing, or general questions: support@serenade.co
GfK Entertainment — chart questions, registrations and approvals for your release: charts.entertainment@gfk.com
Eligible Music Releases
Albums and EPs can be made chart eligible as Smart Formats.
Eligible Smart Formats
Currently, the following Serenade formats are approved for GfK regions:
Other formats beyond these may be eligible case by case. Please ask us if you have any ideas or contact GfK directly.
Registering and Approving Smart Formats
It is the responsibility of the artist team or label to register and approve their Smart Formats.
You must:
Create a UPC for the Smart Format
Register the UPC, along with the product data, with Phononet (Germany's metadata system). info@phononet.de
Make sure product data is delivered correctly to BVMI/GfK.
Make GfK aware of the Serenade products and digital assets being sold with the release.
Even though Serenade Smart Formats are approved as a product category, you must still approve your specific release and design. Approval of the format doesn't carry over automatically to every release built on it.
Approval Factors
GfK may ask the types of questions below when approving a Smart Format:
An image or mockup of the item and design
The price you'll be selling it at
Where you're selling it (D2C store, merch stand, live shows, etc.)
Details of how you'll be describing the item when selling it
Details of any bonus content, and when it'll be added
Pricing
German charts are value-based, the price of the product must be reported correctly within the chart data Serenade sends to GfK.
This directly affects chart position, unlike unit-based territories where price mainly needs to clear a minimum.
Please contact GfK for more information on pricing or check out chart guidance or chart summaries here.
Chart Sales
For Smart Format sales, the sale counts at digital redemption. This means the chart sale is counted when an item has been tapped with a mobile phone and accessed by the fan — it is not counted at the point of sale.
Serenade is accountable for logging and sending all sales/redemption data to GfK against the UPC registered and provided by the artist team/label.
Pre-orders: Smart Formats can be sold on pre-order, and all redemptions during release week count toward week-one chart numbers, just like traditional formats.
Chart Accreditation and Bonus Content
All Smart Formats can include digital bonus content as well as the Album/EP.
For more details on eligible bonus content, please contact GfK or reach out to Serenade.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I sell more than one Smart Format for the same release?
If you want to sell multiple Smart Formats for one release/campaign and keep them all chart eligible, please contact Serenade to discuss.
Can you have differently designed products for the same campaign?
Each specific Smart Format per campaign must only have one design.
Why can't I use a poster, sticker or lanyard as my Smart Format in Germany, when I can in the UK?
GfK's rules require the NFC item to resemble a traditional music carrier (like a CD, cassette or vinyl) with no secondary use.
Other GfK Regions
GfK also compiles the official charts in Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40), Belgium (Ultratop) and the Netherlands (Top 100).
Unlike Germany, all three of these are unit-based, not value-based — they count sales and streams the same way the UK and Australia do, rather than by revenue.