Music sales in Spain increase by 27% in first half of 2019 with streaming up 26.9% according to Promusicae, the Spanish record industry association. There was also a substantial increase in vinyl and an upturn in CD sales making it the best first half results since 2001.
During the first half of 2019, music sales in Spain experienced the highest increase since the turn of the millennium when widespread piracy caused sales to plummet. The decline continued till 2014 when a recovery started. However, the improvement this year has been dramatic with Spaniards investing nearly €140.7 million in music, a 26.9% increase compared to the same period in 2018, when it was €110.9 million. The rise of streaming is driving this increase but there has also been a significant rise of LP vinyl sales and unusually an increase in CD sales.
The rise of digital consumption models is widespread in main international markets, but there has been a marked growth of streaming in Spain. Subscriptions to platforms such as Amazon Music, Apple Music, Deezer, Google Play, Spotify, Tidal and similar represented an expenditure of €78 million by Spanish music fans between January and June, 41% more compared to the same period in 2018 (€55.3 million). Subscriptions are the main component of streaming revenues but ad-supported revenue on free streaming services increased from €8.4 million in 2018 to €10.4 million this year, a 24.4% increase.
Digital is now the overwhelming way music is consumed in Spain with 76.8% coming from the online world and only the remaining 23.2% coming from physical products such as compact discs and vinyl albums.
Resurgence of the CD
CD sales increased for the first time since 2014. Spaniards spent €24.1 million on the purchase of compact discs in the first six months of the year compared to €22.03 million during the same period in 2018.
Vinyl sales soar
Vinyl sales had a stellar 6 months with an increase of 53% over the corresponding period in 2018. Sales were €7.7 million compared to €5.1 million in the two periods and now account for 24%, almost a quarter of the physical market.
Promusicae’s President, Antonio Guisasola, described as figures as ‘excellent’ and highlighted the role of the recorded music industry in the results obtained. “All over these years a new industrial tissue has been created that is now going full steam, despite the difficulties that entail to have such a high piracy rate. If we maintain the effort to achieve a reduction, the digital market will experience a consolidation and maturity moment. There is reason for so, society live connected and technology works. The constant offer of new music reaching the consumer is very attractive. And besides, there is room for a physical market with still things to say.”
He continued, “Although the greatest merit is to be credited to the creative moment Spain is going through, and also to our common language, Spanish, in a perfect alliance with the Latin market. Great hits in Spanish are abundant in the sales charts and they rise a great deal of interest. With this breeding ground, it is not strange that paid streaming subscriptions increase, as results do. There remain to be solved some issues as important and objective for the industry as the implementation of the new copyright directive, which will allow to put back in track problems that affect us like the value gap, as the consumption of video streaming, which keeps being massive and mainly ad-supported, represents as little as 13.9% of all the streaming revenues, compared to 15.9% during the same period of 2018, something that we must revert.”
An infographic giving a breakdown of the Spanish music market (in Spanish) for the first six months of 2019 can be found here.
