By Jess Jones
Amid a digital boom, vinyl and CDs are enjoying a renaissance as young music lovers embrace the nostalgia-driven trend, according to new figures from the British Phonographic Industry (BPI), the recorded music organisation.
Vinyl sales surged to £141.6m in 2023, up by 18.6 per cent year on year, marking their second consecutive year of dominance in the physical market. This was accompanied by a bumper year for CD sales, which saw a 5.4 per cent increase to £97.2m.
Yolanda Brown OBE, artist, music education campaigner and BPI Chair, said: “As someone who has such fond memories going into record shops as a child to buy CDs, I am particularly pleased that the popularity of this wonderful format is showing signs of a revival, something that we’ve been seeing with vinyl for well over a decade now, as the ONS has now picked up on.”
The latest BPI statistics also said recorded music revenue soared to £1.43bn in 2023, marking an 8.1 per cent increase from the previous year.
Miley Cyrus’s “Flowers” topped the charts with over 198m streams, followed closely by Raye’s “Escapism” featuring 070 Shake, which amassed 142m streams.
Although this was the highest amount of music sales ever recorded in the UK, when adjusted for consumer price index-based inflation, it is half a billion pounds lower than where the industry estimates it should be.
BPI chief executive, Dr Jo Twist OBE, said:“Led by streaming, this ninth consecutive annual rise in recorded music revenues highlights how a balanced and prosperous market enabled by significant label investment can help even more artists to succeed.”
But Twist also called for further support for UK record labels so they can continue investing in British music.
“It would be all too easy to take this growth for granted,” she added, “but at a time when British music faces unprecedented competition from around the world and challenges at home, it’s vital the right conditions remain in place here to give British music every opportunity to thrive.”
