50% Of UK Music Consumption 2017 Was Streaming, 4M Vinyl Records Sold

Stats released by UK label association BPI, based on Official Charts Company data, showed a strong year for recorded music, with consumption across all formats in 2017, growing at its fastest rate in decades.

A total of 135.1 million albums or their equivalent were either streamed, purchased on physical format, and/or downloaded over the past 12 months. This represents a 9.5 per cent rise on 2016 and marks a third year of consecutive volume growth.

More UK Music 2017 Highlights:

• Home-grown acts, a surge in streaming & resilient demand for physical formats fuel a 9.5% rise in music consumption in 2017.
• 135.1 million albums or their equivalent were either streamed, purchased or downloaded in 2017.
• 68.1 billion audio streams were served – now accounting for over half of UK music consumption.
• 2^nd week in December sees new milestone of more than 1.5 billion audio streams in a single week.
• Vinyl up 26.8% as unit sales hit 4m mark; LPs now account for almost 1 in 10 physical purchases.
• UK acts make up 8 of top-10 best-selling artist albums; 13^th year in a row top-seller is from UK.
• Ed Sheeran enjoys remarkable success across all formats and is joined by Rag‘n’Bone Man, Sam Smith, Little Mix, Stormzy, Dua Lipa and other Brits to lead another strong year for British Music.

 “Demand for music in the UK is growing fast, driven by brilliant British artists such as Ed Sheeran, Sam Smith, Rag‘n’Bone Man, Little Mix, Stormzy and Dua Lipa and the innovative music industry that supports them,” said Geoff Taylor, Chief Executive BPI & BRIT Awards.

“Whilst the rapid growth of streaming and resilient demand for physical formats gives us confidence for the future, it is important to remember that the music industry still has a long way to go to recover fully,” Taylor continued.  “Structural challenges must be overcome if long-term growth is to be sustained. First we must continue to fight the ‘Value Gap’⁵, so that all digital platforms pay fairly for their use of music.  Second, Government must ensure our musicians are able to tour freely even after we leave the EU. Finally, we should make the UK the best place to invest in new content by forging an online environment that is safe for consumers and where illegal sites cannot flourish.  If we do this, the future for British music, which is already one of our leading exports, will be very bright.”   

Read the full report here.