Categories: Technology

Physical music sales eclipsed by digital in UK

Physical music sales have been eclipsed by digital sales in the United Kingdom for the first time. Digital music sales had already exceeded physical in the United States last year.

The British Phonographic Industry has released figures for the first quarter of 2012 showing that 55.5% of all music revenues came from digital. Overall, the industry witnessed a 2.7% increase in revenue in Q1 2012 to £155.8 million when compared to last year.

Digital sales accounted for £86.47 million in revenue, spurred on by a 23.6% rise in à la carte and subscription-based revenue. Unsurprisingly physical sales, like compact discs, fell by 15.1% to £69.33 million. Digital is now offsetting the decline in revenues from physical products.

The sale of digital albums increased by 22.7% to £35.9 million, outperforming revenues generated from single track sales for the second consecutive quarter. Income from subscription services increased by 93% to £9 million while ad-supported services like Spotify also witnessed revenue increases of 20%.

BPI Chief Executive Geoff Taylor cautioned that “we will need to see this trend repeated for several quarters to say we have turned the corner”, but believed that the “creativity, investment and digital expertise of the British music industry point the way forward”.

Albizu Garcia

Albizu Garcia is the Co-Founder and CEO of Gain -- a marketing technology company that automates the social media and content publishing workflow for agencies and social media managers, their clients and anyone working in teams.

Recent Posts

UN pushes great reset agenda to reshape economy & society, eat fake meat: report

Every pathway is about manipulating human behavior to accept unelected globalist policies: perspective The United…

3 days ago

NovaWave Capital expands investment platform with new partners and Arizona AI Venture Studio

NovaWave Capital is accelerating its ambition to build and scale AI-first companies across the US,…

3 days ago

The Sociable Presents: 50 ESG Leaders to Watch in 2026

Over two decades ago, New York hummed with ambition as CEOs, investors, and activists gathered…

6 days ago

DARPA P5 program wants to know if intl payment systems can guarantee financial privacy, efficiency at high volumes

What advantages would the military have in giving commercial banks & fintechs the ability to…

2 weeks ago

Prezent partners with Tom McCarthy to bring powerful AI-communication coaching avatars to market 

For startups the world over, the ability to master the art of a good pitch…

3 weeks ago

The mind-body metrics revolution: building smarter health plans for longer lives

As the global population ages, the burden of degenerative disease rises, including a higher prevalence…

3 weeks ago