UK music sales hit record year, helped by Swift: industry

UK music sales reached a record high in 2024 thanks to massive streaming and increased vinyl purchases of hits by top artists, notably Taylor Swift, an industry body revealed Wednesday.

Music streaming services together saw revenues from UK purchases rise almost eight percent to around two billion pounds ($2.5 billion) last year, according to The Digital Entertainment and Retail Association (ERA).

Vinyl album sales jumped 10.5 percent to 196 million pounds, it said.

"2024 was a banner year for music, with streaming and vinyl taking the sector to all-time-high records in both value and volume," said ERA chief executive Kim Bayley.

"This is the stunning culmination of music's comeback which has seen sales more than double since their low point in 2013."

The biggest-selling UK album was Swift's "The Tortured Poets Department" with 783,820 sales, including almost 112,000 vinyl copies.

The UK's biggest-selling single of the year was "Stick Season" by US singer-songwriter Noah Kahan, with purchases totalling two million.

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"We continue to believe that digital and physical channels are complementary and vital for the health of the entertainment market overall," Bayley said.

Yet many artists have complained bitterly about a lack of royalties from streaming services, with leading platform Spotify being sued in the United States last year.

UK revenue from CD album sales flattened at just over 126 million pounds last year, ERA said.

The body's chair, Linda Walker, said the industry was "witnessing a fundamental shift in the dynamics of the entertainment business".

She added: "For decades it was new release activity which most drove revenues. In 2024 subscription sales are now a far more significant factor."

Source: AFP