UK recorded music on a high with “explosion” in streaming

UK recorded music is on a high, with streaming pushing up music consumption this year, and a study showing its creative industries are having a boom.

Consumption in the UK was up 4% in the first six months of 2015, according to a BPI (British Phonographic Industry) report. This compared to the first six months of 2014 when sales dropped by 5.8%.

Based on data from the Official Charts Company, the report attributed an 80% rise in streaming music and a slow-down of the decline of CDs, vinyl and cassettes.

Last year, the Brits streamed 14.8 billion tracks – almost double of the level in 2013. Now in the first six months of 2015, the total has already reached 11.5 billion. And this was before the arrival of Apple Music.

Mark Ronson's Uptown Funk is the most streamed track of the year so far with 45 million plays, while an additional 59 songs racked up over 10 million plays.

Geoff Taylor, Chief Executive of the BPI, said: "The launch of Apple Music will give further impetus to the revolution of music streaming.

"Millions of households are experiencing the joy of instantly playing any song they want, all around their house and on any device, and exploring a universe of new music and classic albums.

"The precise impact of Apple Music in 2015 is hard to predict, but UK labels have reinvented their businesses for a multi-channel world, are investing heavily in talent and are offering fans greater choice and value than ever before."

Similarly, video streaming so far for 2015 is 12.5 billion, already close to matching the 14.3 billion video streams of last year. During the equivalent January to June period of 2014, there were 6.3 billion video streams, a 98.2% jump.

The switch by consumers to music streaming has continued the move away from CD and digital album sales. But while the physical format dropped by 10.4% in January – June 2014, this year the decline had slowed to 4%.