U.K. RECORDED MUSIC RISES 8.1%

U.K. recorded-music revenue increased 8.1% in 2023 to £1.43b as a record number of artists benefited from the streaming market, the BPI has reported.

In a ninth consecutive year of growth, 2,245 artists had more than 10m audio streams of their music in the U.K., a 17% spike over two years earlier.

Streaming outperformed the overall market, up 8.4% to £962.1m, representing 67.4% of recorded-music revenue. Paid subscriptions to services such as Amazon, Apple, Deezer, Spotify and YouTube were up 8.1% and constituted nearly 86% of streaming revenue.

“Flowers,” by Miley Cyrus, was the most-streamed track of 2023, with 198.1m audio and video streams in the U.K., followed by “Sprinter” by Dave & Central Cee (160.6m streams) and “Escapism” by Raye f/070 Shake (142m streams).

Revenue generated by physical formats also grew, 12.8% in 2023 to £243.4m, led by a double-digit percentage rise in vinyl LP sales. Vinyl revenue was up 18.6% year over year to £141.6m and made up 58.2% of all physical music revenue. CDs posted a 5.4% increase to £97.2m.

New releases were the main driving force behind the rise in vinyl revenue, with seven of 2023’s 10 biggest sellers having been released in the calendar year. They include 1989 (Taylor’s Version), by Taylor Swift, Hackney Diamonds, by The Rolling Stones, and Did you know that there’s a tunnel under Ocean Blvd, by Lana Del Rey.

Public-performance income, generated by the broadcast and public performance of recorded music, increased by 7.3% year on year, with £154.5m collected on behalf of record labels in 2023. Sync income was £39.5m.

“It would be all too easy to take this growth for granted, but at a time when British music faces unprecedented competition from around the world and challenges at home, it’s vital that the right conditions remain in place here to give British music every opportunity to thrive,” said BPI CEO Dr. Jo Twist, OBE.