Alex Turner, Arctic Monkeys (Photo: Live4ever Media)
Around 7.4 billion songs were accessed via music streaming sites such as Spotify by UK users during 2013 – double the amount recorded a year earlier.
The continued rise of music streaming last year helped to push combined revenues above the £1 billion mark, with subscriptions to sites such as Spotify now worth £103 million as Arctic Monkeys proved to be the most streamed act last year.
Although there was once again a massive number of singles purchased on the digital format – 175.6million to be exact – 64% of all album sales in the UK during 2013 still arrived on the CD format, while the resurgence in vinyl interest saw a year-on-year rise of 101%. Despite this, British album sales overall dropped once again to the tune of 6.4%.
“The success of digital music in 2013 surpassed all previous records – we celebrated the one billionth track download, counted four million-selling digital singles, and streamed more than 7 billion songs,” Geoff Taylor of the BPI has remarked. “As digital music moves into the streaming era, the prospects for future growth in the UK music market look strong.”
