Classical music ends 2018 on a high note with music sales and streams rising by 10.2% according to figures released by the BPI, based on Official Charts Company data. 2.23 million Classical albums or their equivalent were either purchased, downloaded or streamed in 2018 outperforming the strong overall 5.7% rise in UK music consumption as a whole.
Collectible CDs and box sets continue to appeal to classical music buyers in contrast the general trend in UK music consumption to streaming and downloads. Classical CD album sales grew by 6.9% and make up nearly 60% of the UK market in this genre.
Streams of Classical music also showed significant growth in 2018, up 42% on the year (compared to a 33% rise for the UK music market as a whole). Streaming now accounts for a quarter (25.2%) of classical consumption compared to 63.6% for the UK market as a whole. This represents a significant increase over the 19.5% share in 2017.
Downloads were the only format where demand fell in 2018 – digital albums declining by 13.4% but this compares favourably with the total album download market, which dropped by a quarter (26%).
The best selling classical album of 2018 was Andrea Bocelli’s Si becoming the first Classical album to top the national Official Album Chart in almost 21 years following James Horner’s Titanic soundtrack (No.1 for three weeks in 1998). The year’s second-best seller overall was In Harmony by Aled Jones and Russell Watson.
Seven of the top-30 classical best-sellers in 2018 were film soundtracks, composed by Hollywood greats ranging from John Williams to Hans Zimmer. Typically, soundtrack albums attract a high volume of streams, whilst releases from many established artists, such as Katherine Jenkins, still have physical format shares in excess of 90%. In total, 309 of the top 1,000 albums had a streaming share in excess of 50%.
The full report can be accessed here.
The Official Charts Company’s weekly Specialist Classical Chart can be found here.
