U.K. MUSIC RETAIL PULLS IN NEARLY £2B

Spending on music in the U.K. hit £1.99b in 2022, an increase of 3% year over year. Streaming was up 5%, while physical sales dipped 3.8%.

The £1.99b figure—provided by digital-entertainment and retail association ERA—is the highest since 2003 and nearly double that of music retail’s low point in 2013. It’s up 24.2% since 2019, i.e., before the pandemic.

Streaming was the main driver of growth last year, with subscription revenue reaching £1.66m—accounting for 83% of the total.

Physical sales fell to £280.4m. Therein, vinyl album sales grew 11% to hit £150.5m, surpassing CD sales for the first time since 1987. CDs dropped 17.4% to £124m.

ERA CEO Kim Bayley described the proximity of the £2b mark for the first time in more than two decades as a "watershed" and attributed it to the "investment and ingenuity of streaming services on the one hand and to the physical retailers who have driven the vinyl revival on the other," adding, "Music has to be great to win people’s attention, but it’s the buying and consumption experience that ultimately persuades people to put their hands in their pockets."

The overall U.K. entertainment market, encompassing video and games as well as music, hit £11.1b last year. That’s up 6.9% on 2021 and an increase of 39% since 2019.