ERA Archives

Entertainment sales in UK grew for 9th successive year

06/01/2022

Entertainment sales in UK grew for 9th successive year in 2021 according to preliminary figures released by the ERA (Entertainment Retailers Association). The UK music, video and games markets generated an all-time-record sales total of £9,716 million and could break the £10 Bn sales barrier this year with revenues up nearly a quarter since 2019, the last pre-pandemic year. Contrary to fears that 2020’s lockdown boom in streaming was a one-off, digital streams and sales […]

National Album Day 2021 a success

25/10/2021

The fourth edition of National Album Day, staged on Saturday, 16th October, has been welcomed as a success by its joint organisers, the BPI and the Entertainment Retailers Association, with the impact reflected in the Official Vinyl Charts, the Official Album Charts and sales overall as well as across media and socials. This year National Album Day celebrated Women in Music and the important contribution they make to the album format. Based on Official Album Charts midweeks, vinyl LP sales on Saturday 16th October […]

UK record shops see 70% growth since reopening

02/05/2021

UK record shops see 70% growth since reopening delivering a huge vote of confidence in physical products by music fans. Record shops have made a triumphant return to business after the lockdown with aggregate sales of physical albums up 70.7% across the two weeks compared with the same period last year. Vinyl has done particularly well with unit sales up an astonishing 91%. Figures come from Entertainment Retailers Association (ERA) analysis of Official Charts Company data. The […]

UK National Album Day returns for 2021

08/03/2021

UK National Album Day returns for 2021 on Saturday, 16th October and its theme will be Celebrating Women in Music, shining a light on the huge contribution made by women to music and album making. National Album Day also reveals the Top Ten women album artists since the start of 2000 according to Official Charts Company data, with Adele named the best-selling women album artist of the century. The list also features such icons as Amy Winehouse, Kylie, Madonna and Britney Spears. […]

Entertainment was UK’s fastest growing leisure sector in 2020

07/03/2021

Entertainment was UK’s fastest growing leisure sector in 2020 with retail spending on music, video and games up 18.8% as leisure plunges 30%. The combined music, video and games market grew faster than any other leisure sector in 2020, according to figures revealed by the Entertainment Retailers Association (ERA) in the ERA Yearbook. Retail spending increased by 18.3% to a record £9.26 Bn while the overall leisure sector – everything from hobbies, sport and eating […]

Streaming has added £3.5 Bn to UK music industry

26/01/2021

Streaming has added £3.5 Bn to UK music industry according to an ERA report to UK Parliament’s Digital, Media, Culture and Sport Committee enquiry into the economics of music streaming. The submission explains that around 70% of revenues of streaming services are paid direct to the music industry via record companies, music publishers and collection societies. “Streaming services typically have no direct financial relationship with artists or songwriters, and are not privy to those contracts,” it says. […]

UK entertainment sales boom during lockdown

09/01/2021

UK entertainment sales boom during lockdown with entertainment sales increasing in 2020 by 16.8% to £9.05 Bn according to preliminary data compiled by the Entertainment Retailers Association (ERA). It was the fastest growth rate since records began, driven above all by digital services, who saw revenues increase by £1.4 Bn over 2019 to a new high of £7.8 Bn. Digital video services spearheaded by Netflix, Disney+ and Amazon Prime Video increased revenues by a remarkable 37.7% over 2019 while […]