UK streaming reaches 114 Bn in 2019 with cassette and vinyl LP sales continuing to rise according to figures released by the BPI, the UK’s recorded music industry association. Music consumption up for fifth year in a row with the equivalent of 154m albums consumed across streaming and purchasing in 2019, up 7.5% on 2018 and reaching its highest level since 2006 (based on Official Charts Company data).
UK recorded music in figures
- 114 Bn music streams in 2019 – a 3,000% increase on 2012
- 4.3m LPs sold, the biggest total this century
- The renaissance of cassettes continues with a 15 year high over 80,000 copies sold
- Album Equivalent Sales up by 13% since start of decade
The continued growth in streaming, which rose by 26% on the year, underpinned this rise in consumption. Streaming now accounts for three quarters (74.4%) of Album Equivalent Sales (AES), the metric used by the industry to collectively measure music streaming and purchasing. December saw the highest ever weekly stream total with 2.7 Bn streams.
The rise in streaming has also been fuelled by new talent such as Lewis Capaldi, Lil Nas X, Ed Sheeran, Stormzy and Billie Eilish. Singer-songwriter Tones and I enjoyed an 11-week run at the top of the Official Singles Chart with her global smash Dance Monkey – the longest run by a female singer in Official Charts history. The most popular 17 tracks were all played over 100m times each. British artists dominated the album charts again occupying six out of the top 10 year-end places, including both the No.1 and No.2 spots with Lewis and Ed Sheeran respectively, and 14 out of the top 20.
Vinyl LPs and cassette sales continue to grow
Vinyl LP sales rose for a twelfth consecutive year and now account for one in every eight albums bought, with 4.3 million purchased in 2019, an increase of 4.1% on the previous year and a rise of over 2,000% on the format’s low point in 2007.
Cassette sales are enjoying a period of sustained growth, although still only accounting for 0.1% of overall recorded music consumption. Demand has increased for seven consecutive years, and the 2019 sales of 80,404 is the biggest annual total recorded in 15 years (99,636 were sold in 2004).
Physical and digital albums still significant for chart success
While the number of CD and digital albums bought fell by just over a quarter in line with long-term trends (by 26.5% and 28.2% respectively), the formats continue to play an important role in shaping Official Albums Chart success. Physical remains the ‘kingmaker for number one albums’ – in the majority of weeks (29) in 2019, physical accounted for over half (50% +) of chart-eligible sales of the Official Charts Number One artist album. For the last quarter of 2019, physical reigned strong with 13 consecutive weeks where physical counted for the majority of chart-eligible sales – accounting for more than 75% in 12 of those weeks.
Premium ‘box-set’ CD packages continue to be popular and represent a growing proportion of the CD market with Queen, Fleetwood Mac and The Beatles being the best sellers in this area.
Another area where CD sales remain popular is the NOW compilations which sold over 1.25m CDs in 2019 accounting for over a third of all full price compilation sales. Their NOW digital platform saw over 1 Bn streams in 2019.
UK recorded music decade in charts
The rise in popularity in audio streaming on services such as Spotify, Apple and Deezer from around 2014 onwards, complemented by the vinyl revival and boosted by increased label investment in new artists, has helped to fuel a rise in demand for recorded music over the past five years.
Album Equivalent Sales (AES) of 154m represent a 13% rise in demand since the start of the decade, and are now at their highest level since 2006, when the figure stood at 161.4m and the best-selling album was Eyes Open by Snow Patrol (which sold 1.5m copies).
The number of yearly audio streams is up by around 3,000% since 2012, and streams now account for three quarters of UK music consumption, with over 114 billion plays in 2019. In 2010 physical albums enjoyed a similar share (72.7%) of music consumption.
Vinyl and even cassette have rebounded during this time, with both formats registering a 2,000% rise since their low points in 2007 and 2012 respectively.
