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UK music consumption hits new high

Streaming success and the vinyl revival drove UK music consumption and recorded music revenues to a 20-year high in 2024, annual figures released by digital entertainment and retail association ERA reveal.

With results exceeding the highs of the CD era, consumption reached the equivalent of 201.4 million albums a year in 2024. Streaming alone generated the equivalent of 178m albums, exceeding the previous record of 172 million albums sold in 2004 towards the end of the CD boom.

Consumer spending on recorded music, via subscriptions and purchases, also soared; reaching £2,389.8 million to overtake the previous 2001 high of £2,221.7 million.

Music’s 2024 was characterised by growth across streaming and physical formats.

Streaming services including Spotify, YouTube Music and Amazon saw revenues from music streaming increase by 7.8% to £2,018.4 million. Vinyl album sales grew even faster by 10.5% to £196m. CD album revenues remained flat at £126.2 million.

The biggest-selling album of the year was Taylor Swift's The Tortured Poets Department with sales of 783,820, including 111,937 copies on vinyl, which also made it 2024's biggest selling vinyl album.

The biggest single of 2024 was Noah Kahan's Stick Season, generating the equivalent of 1.99 million sales.