UK streaming income increases by a third in 2018 boosted by surging streaming subscriptions according to the BPI’s new yearbook, All About The Music 2019. UK recorded music revenues are up by over 20% in the past 3 years with 3.1% growth in 2018 boosted by a continuing surge in streaming, the enduring appeal of vinyl and growth of sync.
2018 highlight numbers
- UK recorded music revenues up by over 20% in 3 years
- 3.1% growth over past year
- Streaming subscription revenues up 220% in 3 years; now worth nearly £500m and accounting for 60% of income
- Revenues from streaming are now more than double the revenues generated by physical formats
- Longest period of growth since 1990’s, but total label income of £865.5m still lies well below previous industry peaks
The figures published in the Yearbook show that sales now stand at their highest level since 2009, though they are still down on the £1.2 billion post-millennium peak year of 2001. The revenue increase follows a 5.7% rise in music consumption across all formats and broadly translates into a retail value of £1.34 billion according to ERA.
Label Income was boosted in particular by the continuing increase in subscriptions to streaming services, such as Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon and Deezer, which rose by well over a third (+34.9%) in 2018 and which has seen a dramatic 220 per cent surge in the past three years. Subscriptions by themselves accounted for 54.0% of UK record label income in 2018. The growth in subscriptions contributed to an overall 32.8% rise in income from streaming. This would have been greater still had video streaming platforms, predominantly YouTube, generated a great deal more than just £29.7 million in return for an estimated 30 billion-plus annual plays of music videos in the UK. This represents just over half the amount generated by vinyl, which, for all its recent growth, remains something of a niche format, and further underlines the continuing problem of the Value Gap. Revenues from ad-supported streams showed strong year-on-year growth, rising to £19.1 million – up 25.8% on the year.
Income from vinyl sales continues to grow – with the £57.1 million generated in 2018 up 3.7% on the year, and well over double the 2015 total of £25.1 million. Vinyl LPs now account for 6.6% of industry income. Revenue of £176.8 million from CD sales maintained its long-term trend, down by over a quarter (-28.4%) in 2018, but remains important to the industry, delivering just over a fifth (20.4%) of its income.
Overall, income generated by physical formats dropped by 22.5%. This reflects the difficult trading conditions experienced by HMV and other retailers on the High Street in the last quarter.
The soundtrack to The Greatest Showman, the year’s best-selling album in the UK and around the world, made a key contribution to income, alongside other movie soundtracks which featured in the year’s Official Charts year-end top 10, such as the cast recordings for Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again and A Star Is Born.
All About The Music 2019 is published wc 25th March 2019 and is free to all BPI members but can be purchased from the BPI’s website here.
