The British Phonographic Industry (BPI) have revealed new data that shows 27.3% of “chart-eligible album sales” and 66.4% of the “chart-eligible single sales” came from music streaming.

When we say chart-eligible that’s because the UK uses an algorithm to define streaming quantities in charts. For want of a fair album chart, here in the UK they create album equivalent streams (the amount of streams that count as an album sale) by dividing an albums 12 most popular tracks by 1000. This is to prevent a hit single pushing an album higher than it’s earned.

Since the UK began counting streams towards chart sales last year the charts are made up of 27.3% streams for album charts and a whopping majority of 66.4% in the Official Singles Chart. This means that music streaming has become so prominent it’s the main factor in the UK’s official singles chart.

The BPI report shows the UK music industry is thriving in a global, evermore online industry – accounting for 17.1% of the global music share. This means that about 1 in every 6 albums sold worldwide is from a UK artist. It also showed that streaming has increased by 82% in a year, fuelling a 69% rise in income. 8BPI album streaming

BPI and BRIT Awards chief executive, Geoff Taylor said: “It is hugely encouraging that demand for British music is so strong at home and abroad thanks to our brilliant artists and the continual innovation and investment of our record labels.” Taylor went on to criticise YouTube for it’s meager payouts to musicians, saying: “Dominant tech platforms like YouTube are able to abuse liability protections as royalty havens at the expense of artists. The long-term consequences of this will be serious, reducing investment in new music, making it difficult for most artists to earn a living, and undermining the growth of more innovative services like Spotify and Apple Music that pay more fairly for the music they use.”