For the first time in 20 years, UK recorded music sales rose 10% in 2024, with streaming and physical sales rising.
According to BPI analysis based on Official Charts data, album sales and streaming grew 9.7% to 200.5 million last year, marking a decade of consecutive growth.
First time since 1994, vinyl album sales have risen 1.4% annually, marking the 17th growth. While CD sales have declined, vinyl sales have increased 9.1% to 6.7 million units.
The streaming outlets increased these by 11% to 199.6 billion, accounting for roughly 90% of music consumption. The rise of successful female performers including Taylor Swift, Sabrina Carpenter, Olivia Rodrigo, Charli XCX, Billie Eilish, The Last Dinner Party, Chappell Roan, and others in 2024 contributed to this.
With 783,000 sales by December, Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department was the most successful artist since 2017. Brat was one of 12 solo women or groups to top the album charts in 2024, while Sabrina Carpenter topped the singles charts with ‘Espresso’, ‘Please Please Please’, and ‘Taste’ for 21 weeks.
BPI Chief Executive Dr. Jo Twist said, “Proposed changes to British copyright law would allow international tech giants to train AI models on artists’ work without payment or permission, putting the UK’s creative output and human creativity at risk. This is the wrong way to realise AI’s exciting potential. Streaming fraud is also rising.”
Twist also said that British music will remain valuable and grow if it addresses “the growing global challenge head-on, tackling challenges around AI, copyright and streaming fraud, and encouraging consumers towards viable models, like paid streaming subscriptions.”
She added: “The UK remains a world music power, but this status cannot be taken for granted: we need a supportive policy environment that puts the focus on human artistry and enables continued investment in the next generation of British talent.”
The new data shows that 2017 was a good year for the UK music market, but many artists want a fairer sector. They worry that AI and other factors could widen the gap between smaller and larger artists and music royalties.
Artists like Peter Hook, Nick Cave, Paul McCartney, Roger Daltrey, and James Blake have expressed concerns about AI’s impact on the industry. Cave stated, “Its intent is to completely sidestep the sort of inconvenience of the artistic struggle,” calling it “frightening.”
With the latest positives, many expect the sector will endeavor to create a better and more sustainable framework for everyone in 2025, not just with technology but across all disciplines.