UK music sales outpace video and games in first half of 2024 growing by 7.9% according to figures compiled by digital entertainment and retail association ERA. This significantly outpaces video sales (combining physical, EST and VOD +5.4%) and videogame sales (combining physical and full game downloads – 29.4%).
Music revenues in the traditionally quiet first half of the year were £163.8m compared with £151.8m the previous year. Vinyl album sales were up 13.5% to £86.3m, strongly influenced by a successful Record Store Day, the annual celebration of indie record shops and Taylor Swift, while CD sales showed a 3.2% increase to £57.9m. Taylor Swift was responsible for the period’s biggest-selling album, The Tortured Poets Department, and biggest-selling physical single, ‘Fortnight’ featuring Post Malone. Value figures for music streaming are not available, but streaming volume – the number of streams accessed was up 11%.
ERA CEO Kim Bayley said, “This is a striking result for music, driven most notably by Taylor Swift and Record Store Day. It was clear back in April the impact they have had on the vinyl sector, but they seem to have lifted the market as a whole too.”
| Music* | £163.8m | +7.9% |
| Video | £213.7m | +5.4% |
| Videogames | £348.6m | -29.4% |
* Excludes music streaming
Video sales grew 5.4% to £213.7.2m. A 4.7% decline in DVD and Blu-ray sales was more than offset by 11% growth in video downloads and digital rental. These numbers do not include video streaming services such as Netflix and Amazon Prime Video or Apple TV.
In videogames physical games software sales were £111.7m, down 40% on 2023, while digital downloads were down 23% to £236.9m, combining to result in a 29.4% fall in sales of games software, a reflection of a soft new release schedule.
Kim Bayley said, “It was a tough first half for the games business with a lack of heavy-hitting releases, but we are optimistic for a strong second half, the traditional time for blockbuster releases.”
