BPI releases UK music consumption figures for 2017
BPI has issued a report on UK music consumption during 2017 based on Official Charts Company data. The report reveals the fastest rate of growth in music consumption this millennium, up 9.5% on 2016, with 135.1 million albums or their equivalent streamed, purchased or downloaded.
Physical
The revival of vinyl continues, with 4.1 million units bought in 2017, rising 26.8% on 2016 and up by 1,892% on the low of 205,000 records sold in 2007. One in ten physical purchases are now vinyl LPs, putting vinyl sales at their highest level since 1991. Vinyl accounted for 3% of music consumed in 2017, solidifying the medium as an increasing niche, although still small in comparison with CD (30.8%) and streaming (50.4%).
Streaming
Streaming now accounts for over half (50.4%) of all UK music consumption, with 68.1 billion audio streams in 2017. This marks a 51.5% rise on 2016 and a noteworthy 1,740% increase since 2012. The second week of December 2017 saw a new landmark record of over 1.5 billion audio streams in a single week.
Home-grown prominence
UK acts made up eight out of the top ten best-selling artist albums of 2017, and for the 13th year in a row the top seller is from the UK (Ed Sheeran). Little Mix were the third most streamed act, with Calvin Harris, Coldplay and Stormzy also making the top ten.
Ed Weidman, Associate, and Calum Bryant, Trainee Solicitor, Simkins LLP
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