The BPI has revealed that UK recorded music trade revenue rose by 4.7% year-on-year to reach £1.32 billion for 2022.
This figure, which also includes revenues from sync and public performance, represents an eighth consecutive year of growth and is up by 36% on the £968.6 million reported in 2017.
This is the highest nominal annual amount on record, though, when adjusted for inflation, the figure falls hundreds of millions below the total reported in 2006 (the first year which includes sync and public performance).
Growth in 2022 was again fuelled by streaming revenues, which rose 6.3% year-on-year to £885m and which now account for 67.2% of industry revenue – up from 66.2% in 2021.
Over the 12 months, overall revenue from the consumption of music on physical formats fell 10.5% to £215m. Rising revenue of £119.5m from the purchase of albums on vinyl (up 3.1%) helped to offset a 23.7% drop in CD revenue to £89.5m. Vinyl now accounts for more than half (55%) of the revenue derived from music on physical formats. The BPI confirmed that in 2022 vinyl generated more trade revenue than CD for the first time since 1987.
Sophie Jones, BPI chief strategy officer and interim CEO, said: “The hard work and creativity of UK artists and labels meant that 2022 was another great year for British music, but we must guard against any complacency in the face of growing challenges and keep promoting and protecting the value of music. That’s why labels continue to innovate and invest in new talent and areas to connect more artists and fans while driving additional revenues.
“The UK environment has always enabled recorded music to thrive, something we must safeguard, but now we need the music community to unite and create the impetus for further growth so that we can build on an already strong foundation to futureproof the success of British music in an increasingly competitive global music market.”
Streaming & digital revenue
Streaming revenue of £885 million (up 6.3%) was shaped largely by paid subscriptions to services such as Amazon Music, Apple Music, Spotify and YouTube Music, rising by 4.8% to £762.8 million (up from £727.6m in 2021). Ad-funded streaming income grew by 22.3% to £62.5 million.
The year’s most-streamed track was Harry Styles’ As It Was (Song of the Year at the 2023 BRITs), followed by Ed Sheeran’s Bad Habits (who also had Shivers in the Top 5), Glass Animals’ Heat Waves, which topped the US charts, and Go by Cat Burns.
British artists, led by global superstars Harry Styles and Ed Sheeran, claimed a historic clean sweep of the Top 10 songs of 2022, according to the Official Charts Company.
Revenues from physical formats: vinyl, CD & cassette
The purchase of albums on vinyl grew for a 15th consecutive year in 2022, and this translated into trade revenues of £119.5 million, up 3.1% on the year. The biggest-selling albums on the format were led by Taylor Swift’s Midnights, Harry Styles’ Harrys House (winner of the 2023 BRIT Award for Mastercard Album of the Year) and The Car by Arctic Monkeys.
Cassette sales weighed in with over half a million pounds to trade revenues, with the biggest sellers Arctic Monkeys’ The Car, Harry Styles’ Harry’s House, Florence + The Machine’s Dance Fever, Muse’s Will Of The People, and 23 by Central Cee.
Revenues from sync and performance rights
Disrupted by the pandemic in the preceding period, sync revenue increased by 39% in 2022 to reach £42.7m.
Income from the public performance of music, which was similarly impacted by the Covid hiatus, was up 23% in 2022 to stand at £143.4m.
PHOTO: JMEnternational
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