Levels of UK music consumption have hit an all-time record beating the previous pinnacle of twenty years earlier, new figures have revealed.
Driven by the success of streaming services and the revival of vinyl sales, the ‘equivalent’ of 201.4 million albums were sold last year, passing the earlier record that was set in 2004 during the ‘CD boom’.
UK consumer spending on recorded music, including subscriptions and purchases, hit £2.39bn, breaking the previous record of £2.22bn, set in 2001, according to digital entertainment and retail association ERA.
The boss of the ERA, which is the trade association for music, video and video-games, heralded the figures as the ‘stunning culmination’ of ‘music’s comeback’, saying sales had more than doubled since the 2013 ‘low point’.
This success was driven in part by top performing artists like Taylor Swift, whose The Tortured Poets Department release was the top-selling album of the year, with 783,820 sales. This included 111,937 copies sold on vinyl.
Noah Kahan’s Stick Season was the top single of the year with the equivalent of 1.99m sales.
In the year vinyl album sales grew by 10.5 per cent to £196m, while CD album revenues were flat at £126.2m.
This meant physical sales of music were up by 6.2 per cent.
Driven by the success of streaming services and the revival of vinyl sales, the ‘equivalent’ of 201.4 million albums were sold last year, passing the earlier record that was set in 2004 during the ‘CD boom’ (stock image)
This success was driven in part by top performing artists like Taylor Swift , whose The Tortured Poets Department release was the top-selling album of the year, with 783,820 sales
Last year streaming equated to the equivalent of 178 million albums alone. Music revenues overall were up by 7.4 per cent in 2024 (stock image)
Music streaming revenues were also up by nearly eight per cent to more than £2bn in the year.
The more than 200 million albums that were consumed last year beat the previous record of 172 million in 2004.
Last year streaming equated to the equivalent of 178 million albums alone. Music revenues overall were up by 7.4 per cent in 2024.
Kim Bayley, chief executive of the ERA, said: ‘2024 was a banner year for music, with streaming and vinyl taking the sector to all-time-high records in both value and volume.
‘This is the stunning culmination of music’s comeback which has seen sales more than double since their low point in 2013. We can now say definitively – music is back.’
Chair of the organisation, Linda Walker, added: ‘We are witnessing a fundamental shift in the dynamics of the entertainment business.
‘Digital services and retailers have become the drivers of the market.
‘For decades it was new release activity which most drove revenues. In 2024 subscription sales are now a far more significant factor.’
But there was less good news for the video games market, which was down by 4.4 per cent, as revenues from physical game sales plummeted by almost 35 per cent (stock image)
This reflects the fact that subscription model gaming is becoming increasingly popular, which follows a similar model to Netflix or Spotify (stock image)
Physical video sales, including DVDS, were down by 7.9 per cent. The biggest selling video title of the year was Deadpool & Wolverine with sales of 561,917, with more than 80 per cent of these sold digitally
Overall entertainment sales exceeded £12bn for the first time.
But there was less good news for the video games market, which was down by 4.4 per cent, as revenues from physical game sales plummeted by almost 35 per cent.
This reflects the fact that subscription model gaming is becoming increasingly popular, which follows a similar model to Netflix or Spotify.
The shift away from full game sales saw PC download-to-own down by five per cent, digital console games down by 15 per cent and boxed games down by a third.
Despite this the games business is nearly twice as big as music.
Video, which includes subscription services like Netflix and Amazon Prime Video, remains the largest of the three sectors, with revenues up by nearly seven per cent to £5bn.
Money from this type of subscription streaming service was up by 8.3 per cent to £4.5 billion, which accounts for almost 90 per cent of this sector’s revenues.
Physical video sales, including DVDS, were down by 7.9 per cent.
The biggest selling video title of the year was Deadpool & Wolverine with sales of 561,917, with more than 80 per cent of these sold digitally.
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