The UK music industry reaches an all-time record
The UK music industry sees the year off to a great start as 2024’s results show UK music being consumed more than ever.
What better way to start the new year than celebrate UK music’s record successes from last year? The Entertainment and Retail Association (ERA) have released their report for 2024. The headline news is that streaming and vinyl are driving a 20-year high for music in the United Kingdom.
The ERA are celebrating “a 20 year high and an all-time record, exceeding the pinnacle of the CD era” for UK music consumption and recorded music revenues. That’s according to their annual figures, released this week.
Music consumption is thriving, with streaming alone generating the equivalent of 178 million albums. That exceeds the record of 172 million albums sold in 2004 at the peak of the CD boom. Overall, music consumption reached the equivalent of 201.4 albums for 2024 in the UK.
In terms of revenues, UK music surpassed 2001’s record high of £2,221.7 million. Including revenues from both streaming subscriptions and purchases, UK recorded music revenues reached £2,389.8 million.
ERA CEO, Kim Bayley says: “2024 was a banner year for music, with streaming and vinyl taking the sector to all-time-high records in both value and volume. This is the stunning culmination of music’s comeback which has seen sales more than double since their low point in 2013. We can now say definitively – music is back.”
Acknowledging the impact of digital’s revitalisation of the music industry’s piracy-induced struggles in the early noughties, ERA Chair Linda Walker writes: “Digital services and retailers have become the drivers of the market. For decades it was new release activity which most drove revenues. In 2024 subscription sales are now a far more significant factor.”
A vinyl resurgence is also helping to boost music revenues with phsyical music, certainly not a dying art, growing 6.2%. Streaming still leads the way with 7.8% year-on-year growth. However, digital downloads are definitely losing traction with a drop of -3.2% continuing the year before’s trend of revenue drops.
Whilst revenues bolster for the year, we shouldn’t forget that musicians still face challenges. The industry is thriving in some ways, but venues, festivals, and artists still face existential threats. More than 100 music festivals shut down in the UK in 2024. A new government brings hope for change, but that remains to be seen as the industry slowly adapts and shift to changes in policy and economy.