March 23, 2020

BPI says that this increase marks the fourth consecutive year of growth and is fuelled by the continuing increase in streaming income, which leapt by 21.8% to stand at £628.9 million. This is the highest level of annual trade income in well over a decade going back to 2006, when the combined total was £1,166.2 million.

Record label trade income is made up of combined revenues generated through streaming, sales of music across physical and download formats, public performance rights, and “sync” licences (licensing music for use in film & TV, games and advertising).

The BPI says that the reported rise in revenues tracks the 7.5% increase in consumption reported by the BPI earlier this year. Within streaming, ad-supported audio streaming revenues were up strongly by 29.7%, and video streaming revenues also grew by 18.8%, but fell further behind the growth of other streaming channels. Vinyl delivered revenues of £66.3 million, up 16.1% on the year.

This continuing growth in revenues is welcomed, the BPI says, but in addition to concerns over the impact of Coronavirus, structural factors are holding back the recorded sector from realising its full potential to reclaim the peak levels of two decades ago. Video streaming services failed to close the “Value Gap” in 2019, generating only just over half the income produced by vinyl records, while illegal websites, in particular P2P and “stream ripping” sites, continued to leach value from the recorded music sector online, estimated at £120 million per year. To access BPI’s figures in full, click here.