Kim Bayley: Last News

ERA, the digital entertainment and retail association, the value of UK music rose seven per cent to an all-time new record of £11.9billion.The ERA say the “main driver of growth” in 2023 came via streaming and digital services, which increased their revenue by more than £800million in one year. Streaming now accounts for 91.7 per cent of the total revenue for UK music nationally.As well as streaming, sales of vinyl increased by 18 per cent, and CD sales also saw a two per cent increase in sales – the first value increase in the medium in almost twenty years.It means music revenues were at their highest since 2002 and are now just 0.8 per cent below the music industry’s greatest revenue year of 2001.ERA Chairman Ben Drury said of the statistics: “The entertainment business is defying gravity, delivering eleven straight years of growth regardless of wider economic conditions.“Due credit should go to the amazing creative talent behind the movies, music and games we all love, but we should also recognise the huge contribution of the digital services and retailers who have reinvented the entertainment experience for consumers over the past 15 years,” he continued.“The overwhelming majority of the money raised by digital services and retailers goes direct to the content owners, and their success is directly benefitting creators.”ERA CEO Kim Bayley added: “With revenues just a fraction away from music’s all-time-high, this is a red letter day for the music industry and is a testament not just to the creativity of artists, but to the entrepreneurial drive of digital services and retailers.“A world without streaming now seems unthinkable.

Spotify, Apple Music and Amazon Music – with digital listening accounting for nearly 85 per cent of the total figure.There has also been a steady growth in physical sales in recent times, and last year the market for vinyl records increased by 10.5 per cent. This is the equivalent of 6.7million sales and a revenue of £196million.

Record Store Day and Taylor Swift.The report was shared by digital entertainment and retail association ERA, which confirmed that one week last month saw the sales of vinyl records reach a new high in recent years.It was the week that Record Store Day (April 20) took place that the figures marked the highest in 30 years, as countless music lovers flocked to both physical and online stores to purchase physical copies of their favourite releases.As well as seeing lots of exclusive releases from musicians, Record Store Day also happened to take place one day after pop icon Taylor Swift shared her latest album ‘The Tortured Poets Department’, which immediately topped the charts, took over social media and shifted over 2.6million copies in the US alone.Thanks to both, data from the Official Charts Company has shown that the week saw 269,134 vinyl albums and 37,656 vinyl singles sold – making for a total of 306,791 units.The figure is the highest out of any week on record since week five in 1994, when the current statistics began.‘The Tortured Poets Department’ alone accounted for just shy of a quarter of the week’s total vinyl album sales (24.7 per cent), and many of these were sold at independent shops as part of Record Store Day.Similarly, Music Week reported that sales of vinyl albums exclusive to independent record shops as part of Record Store Day 2024 made up approximately 37.2 per cent of the vinyl albums market.“Indie record shops were first to realise that the growth of streaming would paradoxically provide an opportunity for the most physical of physical formats, and vinyl has sat at the heart of Record Store Day’s celebration of indie record shop culture since 2008,” Kim Bayley, CEO of ERA, said in a statement

BBC).The ERA’s 2024 Yearbook (published today, March 6), which contains statistics on the music, video and gaming sectors, also found that the UK music market was worth £2.2billion last year. 84 per cent of this was attributed to streaming subscriptions.The number of shops physically selling music, however – like supermarkets and specialist chains – fell from 10,391 to 2,486 in that period.The demand for vinyl records, meanwhile, continued to increase for the 16th year in a row.

most recently, debut albums.Taking place on Saturday October 14, the event is presented in association with official broadcast partner BBC Sounds – aiming to unite the music community and celebrate the meaningful impact an album can make.This year marks the sixth edition of the event – which originally launched in 2018 – and seeks to shine a light upon the artists and albums that defined the 1990s. All genres from the decade are included, whether it be Britpop acts including Oasis and Pulp, trip-hop artists such as Portishead or pop icons like the Spice Girls.

Mark Sutherland It’s been a curious month for the U.K. music biz, with events dominated by the death of Queen Elizabeth II. Her passing was announced just as the industry was descending on the Mercury Prize with Free Now awards in Hammersmith, West London – a ceremony that was abruptly pulled, despite 11 of the 12 nominated artists being in the room. Organizers will now have another try on Oct. 18, although how many of the nominees will make the rescheduled date remains to be seen. The official mourning period also had a significant impact on the country’s radio networks, with most music stations shifting overnight to somber music and news updates.

Vinyl is the UK’s second best selling physical entertainment format in 2022, according to new research.Only Nintendo Switch games are ahead of vinyl in terms of sales so far this year, despite being down 12.5 per cent year-on-year while record sales are up 12.2 per cent, figures from the Entertainment Retailers Association show.According to ERA, vinyl has generated £80.9million in sales so far in 2022, up from £72.1million this time last year.The format is also outselling Playstation games, which saw a 6.5 per cent year-on-year rise and CDs which are down 8.1 per cent.“Vinyl’s rise and rise seems unstoppable,” said ERA CEO Kim Bayley. “For a 74-year-old analogue format to eclipse the digital-age technology of games platforms is quite extraordinary.

LONDON – Tributes have been paid to former Entertainment Retailers Association (ERA) chairman Paul Quirk, who has died at age 71 following a short battle with cancer.