Music Week broke the news yesterday that physical music unit sales were on course for their first annual increase in two decades.
Now the digital entertainment and retailer association ERA has issued new revenue figures for the first six months of 2024.
The value of UK music sales (combining vinyl, CD and downloads) grew by 7.9% in the first half of 2024, according to figures compiled by ERA, significantly outpacing video sales (up 5.4%) and video game sales (down 29.4%).
Music revenues in the first half were £163.8 million compared with £151.8m the previous year.
Vinyl album sales were up 13.5% to £86.3m, bolstered by a successful Record Store Day and Taylor Swift, while CD sales showed a 3.2% increase to £57.9m.
Taylor Swift was responsible for the half-year’s biggest-selling album, The Tortured Poets Department, and biggest-selling physical single, Fortnight featuring Post Malone.
Value figures for music streaming are not available, but streaming volume was up 11% year-on-year.
This is a striking result for music, driven most notably by Taylor Swift and Record Store Day
Kim Bayley
ERA CEO Kim Bayley said: “This is a striking result for music, driven most notably by Taylor Swift and Record Store Day. It was clear back in April the impact they have had on the vinyl sector, but they seem to have lifted the market as a whole too.”
Video sales grew 5.4% to £213.7.2m. A 4.7% decline in DVD and Blu-ray sales was more than offset by 11% growth in video downloads and digital rental. These numbers do not include video streaming services such as Netflix and Amazon Prime Video or Apple TV.
In video games physical games software sales were £111.7m, down 40% on 2023, while digital downloads were down 23% to £236.9m, combining to result in a 29.4% fall in sales of games software, a reflection of a light new release schedule.
PHOTO: Resident Music/Mike Burnell
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