How British music grew in 2023: 9 years of growth
A great year for music in the UK saw female musicians achieve some of their best results yet as music consumption grows yet again.
The British Phonographic Industry (BPI) have released their 2023 report. It shows another fantastic year for music in the UK, as music consumption grows 10% throughout the year. The overall UK recorded music sales and streams rose to 182.8 million albums for the year.
This was largely boosted by music streaming, which now accounts for 87.7% of the British music market. Streaming itself rose quicker than the overall industry, at a rise of 12.8% year-on-year. Thanks mostly to streaming, UK recorded music consumption grew for the ninth year in a row.
In response to the huge influence of music streaming, the BPI have introduced a new award. The award will join their BRIT Certified Platinum, Gold and Silver Awards. The BRIT Billion Award will be given to artists who have achieved more than 1 billion streams in the UK across their career.
Almost 30 artists have earned the award so far, including Ed Sheeran at the top with 10 billion streams across his music in the UK. Other Billion Award artists include The Rolling Stones, Queen, Rita Ora, RAYE, and Sam Smith.
The state of UK physical music in 2023
Whilst streaming dominates, physical music isn’t done for. In fact, vinyl sales rose for their 16th consecutive year in the UK. Sales of vinyl records rose 11.8% to 6.1 million units, the fastest year this decade. Vinyl sales in the UK were their highest in 2023 since 1990.
Cassette tapes are also seeing a resurgence, surpassing six figures for the fourth year in a row. Around 136,000 cassettes were sold last year led by Olivia Rodrigo’s ‘Guts’.
Despite streaming’s prevalence in how listeners are consuming music, its market value still pales in comparison to physical sales. In fact, of the 44 albums that debuted at No.1 last year, 86% of them gained over half their chart-eligible sales from physical.
In Festive news, Wham’s Last Christmas topped the Christmas Official Singles Chart for the first time, finishing the year in the Top 20. The Beatles returned to number 1 on the Official Singles Chart for the first time since 1969 with their AI-aided single ‘Now and Then’.
Female musicians had a record year in the UK. Nearly half of the singles in the Top 10 last year were by women. Read our article below for more on how female artists are dominating in UK music.