Record number of artists achieving multi-million stream totals with label support as UK recorded music revenues rose for a ninth consecutive year in 2023

UK recorded music revenue¹ increased by 8.1% year-on-year to £1.43 billion in 2023 as a record number of artists are benefiting from the streaming market, reports the BPI, the association for the UK’s record companies and labels, and the representative voice of British recorded music.

The figure, which includes revenue from synchronisation (sync) and public performance², marks the ninth consecutive year of growth and has been fuelled by UK record labels investing hundreds of millions of pounds annually to support artists’ careers through A&R, marketing and promotion.

As the market continues to grow, this investment in artists is helping more of them achieve at least 10 million audio streams of their music in the UK each year. In 2023 2,245 artists surpassed this total, 17% more than two years earlier, with many accumulating tens of millions globally also.

The total revenue figure for last year was the highest nominal annual amount achieved to date for recorded music in the UK. However, once adjusted for inflation using CPI trade revenue, this was £478m below where the industry should have been in real terms since 2006, the first year when public performance and sync were included in the annual total. Based on RPI as a measure, the difference in 2023 was even more stark at £771m lower.

Streaming outperformed the overall market, up 8.4% to £962.1m, representing 67.4% of recorded music revenue (67.3% in 2022). This has cemented the status of streaming as the industry’s main revenue generator, having in 2013 accounted for only 8.6%. Revenue from physical formats also grew, 12.8% in 2023, having fallen by a tenth (10.5%) the previous year. This was led by a double-digit percentage rise in vinyl LP sales, as well as CD revenue recovering. Vinyl revenue was up by 18.6% y-o-y to £141.6m, while CD posted a 5.4% increase to £97.2m, following a 23.7% fall in 2022. A year after generating more trade revenue than CD for the first time since 1987, vinyl moved further ahead when it made up 58.2% of all physical music revenue, compared to 55.4% in 2022.

Dr Jo Twist OBE, BPI Chief Executive Officer, said:  “Led by streaming, this ninth consecutive annual rise in recorded music revenues highlights how a balanced and prosperous market enabled by significant label investment can help even more artists to succeed. It would be all too easy to take this growth for granted, but at a time when British music faces unprecedented competition from around the world and challenges at home, it’s vital the right conditions remain in place here to give British music every opportunity to thrive.”

YolanDa Brown OBE DL – artist, music education campaigner and BPI Chair, said: “It's fantastic that the UK recorded music market hit a new high last year, which is testament to all the incredible music that diverse artists are creating, including across new genres, with the support of their record labels. As someone who has such fond memories going into record shops as a child to buy CDs, I am particularly pleased that the popularity of this wonderful format is showing signs of a revival, something that we’ve been seeing with vinyl for well over a decade now., as the ONS has now picked up on.”

Streaming revenue reached a record £962 million in 2023

Paid subscriptions to services such as Amazon, Apple, Deezer, Spotify and YouTube made up nearly 86% of the £962.1 million of revenue generated by music streaming in the UK in 2023. Paid subscription revenue rose by 8.1%, more than twice the growth rate achieved in 2022. Revenue from ad-supported audio services grew at a faster rate last year, up 12.4% to £71.5 million, despite only contributing a fraction of the revenue. Digital download revenue dropped for a tenth consecutive year to £26.0 million, although its 5.8% annual fall was notably much gentler than the previous year when the market declined by 17.3%.

Flowers by Miley Cyrus was the most-streamed track of 2023 with 198.1 million audio and video streams in the UK, followed by Sprinter by Dave & Central Cee (160.6 million streams) and Escapism by Raye ft 070 Shake (142.0 million streams).

Vinyl revenue last year was almost a dozen times greater than a decade ago

The £141.6 million of revenue generated by vinyl in 2023 was nearly 12 times the amount the format brought in back in 2013 when it contributed just over £12 million to the market. Brand new releases were the main driving force last year behind the 18.6% rise in vinyl revenue with seven of 2023’s ten biggest sellers having been released in the calendar year, including 1989 (Taylor’s Version) by Taylor Swift, Hackney Diamonds by The Rolling Stones and Did You Know There’s A Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd by Lana Del Rey.

CD revenues on the rise again, as the format is embraced by younger fans

Although vinyl is once again established as the biggest physical format in terms of income, CD revenue has now increased annually in two of the last three years, including in 2023 when it was up 5.4% to £97.2 million. Alongside a revival in cassette sales, the rising demand for vinyl and CD releases has been boosted by annual events such as Record Store Day and National Album Day, in addition to new generations of music fans embracing these beloved formats.

Annual public performance revenue surpasses £150 million for first time

Public performance income, which is generated by the broadcast and public performance of recorded music, increased by 7.3% year-on-year, with £154.5 million collected on behalf of record labels in 2023. Income from synchronisation or ‘sync’, when music is used in visual media such as film, TV, games and advertising, was £39.5 million last year, a drop of 7.6% on the year before.

Notes to Editors

¹ Record label revenues comprise income generated through streaming, purchases across physical and download formats, public performance rights, and ‘sync’ – music licensed for use in film & TV, games soundtracks and advertising. The BPI figures are based on a survey of its label members, with Official Charts Company share data used to account for non BPI label members. They are verified against data collected by the IFPI.

² Record company earnings from public performance rights are generated by the broadcast and public performance of recorded music – the figures presented represent income collected on behalf of producers (i.e. record labels and not artists). 

³ Adjusted for CPI, UK trade revenue in 2023 was £478 million below the figure of £1.90 billion where the industry should have been in real terms since 2006, while using RPI it would have been £771 million higher at £2.2 billion.

⁴ BPI Music consumption figures for 2023 here.

Table 1:  UK Recorded Music Revenue 2022 – 2023

* CDs include physical singles **Other physical = Music DVDs, Cassettes & other physical album formats – following international reporting standards

Chart 1 – OFFICIAL ARTIST ALBUMS CHART 2023 – © Official Charts Company – view Top 40 biggest albums 2023                                                                            

1. The Weeknd – The Highlights
2. Taylor Swift – Midnights
3. Taylor Swift – 1989 (Taylor’s Version)   
4. Elton John – Diamonds
5. Harry Styles – Harry’s House
6. Fleetwood Mac – 50 Years – Don’t Stop
7. Eminem – Curtain Call – The Hits
8. SZA – SOS
9. Arctic Monkeys – AM
10. ABBA – Gold – Greatest Hits

Chart 2 – OFFICIAL SINGLES CHART 2023 – © Official Charts Company – view  Top 40 biggest singles 2023           

1. Miley Cyrus – Flowers
2. Dave & Central Cee – Sprinter
3. RAYE ft 070 Shake – Escapism
4. Taylor Swift – Anti-Hero
5. Calvin Harris & Ellie Goulding –  Miracle
6. Rema – Calm Down
7. SZA – Kill Bill
8. PinkPantheress – Boy’s A Liar
9. Harry Styles – As It Was
10. Libianca – People

Chart 3 – OFFICIAL VINYL ARTIST ALBUMS CHART 2023 – © Official Charts Company – view Top 40 vinyl of 2023                                                                                     

1. Taylor Swift – 1989 (Taylor’s Version)
2. The Rolling Stones – Hackney Diamonds
3. Lana Del Rey – Did You Know There’s A Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd
4. Taylor Swift – Speak Now (Taylor’s Version)
5. Fleetwood Mac – Rumours
6. Pink Floyd – The Dark Side Of The Moon
7. Blur – The Ballad Of Darren
8. Taylor Swift – Midnights
9. Olivia Rodrigo – Guts
10. Lewis Capaldi – Broken By Desire To Be Heavenly Sent

Chart 4 – OFFICIAL CD ARTIST ALBUMS CHART 2023 – © Official Charts Company – view Top 40 cassettes 2023        

1. Take That – This Life
2. Taylor Swift – 1989 (Taylor’s Version)
3. The Rolling Stones – Hackney Diamonds
4. Lewis Capaldi – Broken By Desire To Be Heavenly Sent
5. Ed Sheeran – - (Subtract)
6. P!nk – Trustfall
7. Foo Fighters – But Here We Are
8. Metallica – 72 Seasons
9. Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds – Council Skies
10. Kylie Minogue – Tension

Chart 5 – OFFICIAL CASSETTE ARTIST ALBUMS CHART 2023 – © Official Charts Company – view Top 40 cassettes 2023

1. Olivia Rodrigo – Guts
2. Ed Sheeran – - (Subtract)
3. Kylie Minogue – Tension
4. Inhaler – Cuts & Bruises
5. Blur – The Ballad Of Darren
6. Lana Del Rey – Did You Know There’s A Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd
7. Sleep Token – Take Me Back To Eden
8. Lewis Capaldi – Broken By Desire To Be Heavenly Sent
9. Hozier – Unreal Unearth
10. The 1975 – Live With The BBC Philharmonic Orchestra     

Chart 6 – OFFICIAL CHARTS MOST STREAMED AUDIO TRACKS 2023 – © Official Charts Company              

1. Miley Cyrus – Flowers
2. Dave & Central Cee – Sprinter
3. RAYE ft 070 Shake – Escapism
4. Rema – Calm Down
5. Calvin Harris & Ellie Goulding –  Miracle
6. SZA – Kill Bill
7. Taylor Swift– Anti-Hero
8. PinkPantheress – Boy’s A Liar
9. Libianca – People
10. Harry Styles – As It Was