The British Phonographic Industry has reported that UK-recorded music has seen an increase in consumption in 2024. Today, the BPI shared its annual music market analysis, which revealed that music from UK artists has seen an increase in both streams and physical sales.
Statistics from the BPI showed that UK-recorded music saw an increase in sales and streams by 9.7% in 2024, to 200.5 million albums (or their equivalent), up from 182.8 million in 2023. This highlights a decade of uninterrupted growth.
The 11% rise in the streaming market has driven this growth – 199.6 billion audio streams were racked up over the past year, as opposed to around 179 billion in 2023. Streaming now makes up 88.8% of music consumption, a 1% increase from last year. In May, the Official Charts Company reported over four billion audio streams in a single week for the first time ever.
The BPI says that audio streaming consumption has more than doubled in six years, proclaiming it a result of “long-term investment and backing of record labels in supporting a diverse range of artists and new talent”. Between 2018 and 2023, UK record labels invested over £2 Billion in marketing and A&R.
Physical sales have also seen an uptick – for the first time since 1994, the sales of physical albums (vinyl, CD, cassette and others) increased by 1.4 percent. The rise in sales has been driven by new releases from artists such as Taylor Swift and Billie Eilish, who dropped multiple editions of their latest albums on the vinyl format, as well as classic records from Oasis and Fleetwood Mac. The vinyl market is now at a three-decade peak, with sales up 9.1 percent. In contrast, sales of physical CD’s have declined 2.9 percent.
The stats show that it’s been a great year for female artists – in 2024, six of the top 10 and half of the 20 biggest albums of the year were by women. To no surprise, Taylor Swift headed this progression, with ‘The Tortured Poets Department’ garnering 738,000 sales by the years end, the highest for any artists release in a calendar year since 2017.
Charli XCX left 2024 as the highest selling UK artist on the Official Album Charts, in an undeniable year that’s seen her earn grammy nominations, rave reviews, and pop culture frenzy for her club-influenced ‘Brat’ album. The release was one of 12 by female artists to top the UK album charts in 2024 – other UK female artists to do so were Dua Lipa with ‘Radical Optimism’, Beabadoobe with ‘This Is How Tomorrow Moves’ and The Last Dinner Party and their debut offering, ‘Prelude To Ecstasy’.
It’s been an interesting year for music, with both familiar names and emerging artists gathering accolades in streaming and sales. You can see our write-up on the UK’s five biggest songs of the year here, and the full list of 2024’s top-ranking albums and singles here.
Official Album Charts, 2024:
1. Taylor Swift – ‘The Tortured Poets Department’
2. The Weeknd – ‘The Highlights’
3. Sabrina Carpenter – ‘Short N’ Swet’
4. Noah Kahan – ‘Stick Season’
5. Billie Eilish – ‘Hit Me Hard And Soft’
6. Chappell Roan – ‘The Rise And Fall Of A Midwest Princess’
7. Fleetwood Mac – ’50 Years – Don’t Stop’
8. Charli XCX – ‘Brat’
9. Coldplay – ‘Moon Music’
10. Olivia Rodrigo – ‘Guts’
