The retail value of the U.K.’s music market rose 9.6% in 2017 to hit £1.2b ($1.63b) as income earned from streaming services soared 41.9% in value. Eight out of the Top 10 best-selling albums came from British artists, and three were solo debuts.
The bad news? Downloads dipped 23.1% and physical sales declined 3.4%.
The 9.6% rise is almost double that achieved the year prior, when the market tallied £1.108b, according to preliminary stats from the Entertainment Retailer’s Association. Growth in revenue earned from paid streaming subscription tiers (ad-supported streams aren’t counted) was behind the success, where income rose 41.9% to £577.1m ($784m) from £406.6m in 2016—exceeding the half-a-billion mark for the first time.
In terms of best selling albums, the three debuts come from Rag’n’Bone Man (Columbia) at #2, Liam Gallagher (Warner Bros.) at #9 and Stormzy (#Merky) at #10. Returning acts include Ed Sheeran (Atlantic) at #1, followed by Sam Smith (Capitol) at #2, Little Mix (Syco) at #4 and Michael Ball& Alfie Boe (Decca) at #7. That’s a marked improvement on 2016 when no debuts released that year made the Top 10 and the Top 2 best sellers (from Adele and Coldplay) were released the year prior.
