UK music revenues rise to highest level in two decades through streaming

nme.com:

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.