UK Music Industry Hits All-Time High Revenue in 2024, Driven by Vinyl and Streaming Growth

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January 17, 2025 at 12:08 AM

The UK music industry achieved record-breaking revenue of £2.39 billion ($2.95 billion) in 2024, marking a 7.4% year-over-year increase, according to new data from the Digital Entertainment and Retail Association (ERA).

London skyline during golden hour

Key findings from the 2024 data:

Physical sales increased 6.2% to £330.1 million
Vinyl revenue grew 10.5% to £196 million
CD revenue remained stable at £126.2 million
Streaming revenue rose 7.8% to £2.02 billion
Taylor Swift's "The Tortured Poets Department" led both total album sales (783,820) and vinyl sales (111,937)
Total vinyl LP sales reached 6.7 million units

While this represents a technical all-time high, inflation means the actual value remains below the market's peak. However, streaming continues to dominate revenue generation, despite Spotify's UK price increases in May 2024, which saw the Individual plan rise 9% to £11.99 monthly.

ERA CEO Kim Bayley celebrated the results: "2024 was a banner year for music, with streaming and vinyl taking the sector to all-time-high records in both value and volume. This is the stunning culmination of music's comeback which has seen sales more than double since their low point in 2013. We can now say definitively – music is back."