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Business News Labels & Publishers
Record industry grew in 2009 thanks to digital and major releases
By CMU Editorial | Published on Monday 26 April 2010
The UK recorded music market grew 1.4% last year based on total trade income, according to the annual industry income survey undertaken by record label trade body the BPI. According to the report, the industry was worth £928.8m. Although a modest growth, those who opposed the anti-piracy provisions in the Digital Economy Act say the new report proves the major record companies were being disingenuous when they claimed the growth of file-sharing had taken their industry to the brink.
Needless to say, the continued growth of digital, music revenues enabled the slight overall increase, with digital revenues now representing a fifth of the sector’s income, when digital is said to include mobile, subscription and ad-funded streaming services as well as straight iTunes-style download platforms. Physical CD sales were down 6.1%, though music DVD sales saw another increase.
Needless to say, a handful of key releases accounted for a bulk of the record industry’s good fortune, including new albums by Susan Boyle, Lady Gaga, Michael Bublé and Robbie Williams, plus the Beatles reissues and, in the DVD domain, the Take That live DVD.
Commenting on the stats, BPI chief Geoff Taylor told CMU: “It’s encouraging to see industry revenues stabilise and even show modest growth in 2009. This is testament to continuing investment by UK labels in talented artists despite challenging economic conditions, and the innovation labels have shown in licensing new digital services”.
Keen to overcome allegations that the 2009 stats proved the doom and gloom talk presented by BPI types during the DEA debates was actually false, he continued: “But let’s put it in broader perspective: 2009’s modest result follows a five-year drop in annual income, and total industry income has not exceeded £1bn since 2006. The CD continues to show greater resilience than many predicted – it is an excellent digital product. The pace of growth of new digital services is encouraging, but the size of the market continues to be constrained by competition from illegal downloads”.
