Commentary: Is the Music Industry in the UK Reaching its Peak?

ERA, the UK trade body established to represent physical and digital retail, has long tracked the sales of music, video, and games. For music, these stats consider physical sales and streaming subscriptions but do not include revenues from free ad-support streaming services.

Their 2024 report visibly stands out from previous years, marking a significant milestone. The reported figures suggest an all-time record in music revenue. According to the ERA analysis, music fans spent a total of £2.38bn on streaming subscriptions and physical records, including CDs and vinyl, last year, marking a rise of 7.4%.

The takeaway for ERA is clear: “Music is back—thanks to streaming and the vinyl revival.” At least that’s what Kim Bayley, the ERA's chief executive, says. The latest numbers surpass the previous record of £2.2bn set in 2001, a peak before the industry experienced a steep, years-long decline due to digital piracy and falling CD sales. Now, with sales steadily increasing for 17 consecutive years, it is safe to say for some that the industry has finally recovered from these difficult times.

According to ERA, physical music sales in the UK grew at 6.2% to £330m, while subscription spending increased by 7.8%, surpassing £2bn for the first time ever. Vinyl record sales, specifically, were up by 10.5% to £196m, while CD album sales generated £126m, showcasing no growth compared to last year.

Total album sales—combining physical albums with their streaming equivalents—reached £201.4m, sovereignly led by Taylor Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department. This broke the record of £172m from 2004, which was, of course, based solely on physical records.

However, it’s important to note that the report’s figures are not adjusted for inflation, meaning that in real terms, the total UK music sales may still fall behind the early 2000s. Despite this, ERA is convinced that the study's results are cause for celebration. Now, the question is, what do these record-breaking numbers mean for musicians?

Critics argue that the ERA report fails to reflect the economic realities faced by most artists today. In a Guardian article, writer Eamonn Forde claims that the current reality of the music industry is much gloomier than people think. While the trade numbers are at an all-time high, suggesting industry-wide revenue growth, they reveal little to nothing about musicians' actual incomes.

At the same time, while the industry might have recovered from the “hell” connected to digital piracy and the slow death of CDs, ERA’s report effectively closes its eyes to the complexities and challenges experienced by music professionals since the early 2000s.

Forde also points out that the calculation methods are rather obsolete and misleading. For instance, the report says that an “equivalent“ of £201.4m worth of albums were consumed in the UK in 2024, compared to the figures based solely on physical sales in 2004.

Just for reference, ERA equates 1,000 subscription streams and 6,000 ad-supported streams (that is, streams on the free Spotify version) across any or all tracks on a specific album release to one physical album sale.

However, given that 85% of recorded music revenue comes from streaming and only 13% from physical methods, comparing—and most importantly, conflating the two formats as if they are equivalent—paints a rather distorted picture.

Forde argues that explaining success in an ‘album’ format, even more so in its physical form, is archaic—particularly now that the industry has completely deprioritized and diminished the format. Instead, he claims, physical album sales should be translated into their streaming equivalent to more accurately reflect the final revenue they generate.

Last but not least, streaming has become the dominant source of music consumption, but its payouts are significantly lower than those from physical sales during the CD era—something that the ERA report also omits. As Forde says, even if a thousand premium subscription streams equal an album in a physical format for industry’s computation purposes, the current royalties per stream are usually far less than those for a CD sale.

This discrepancy is compounded by the nature of record deals, which often favor labels over artists, and the compensation model established by streaming services. This raises another issue: Sales are not really equal to musicians’ true income, are they?