Reports from multiple French and British trade organizations are reporting large sales increases across all sectors of the recorded music industry.
As reported by Music Business Worldwide, the French trade organization Syndicat National de l’Édition Phonographique (SNEP), which translates to “National Syndicate of Phonographic Publishing,” announced in their end-of-year report that revenue from recorded music in France, the world’s fifth largest music market, exceeded €861 million in 2021. This increase in profit represents a 14.3% year-on-year growth from 2021 and makes it the fifth consecutive year that the numbers have continued rising. At 70%, revenue from digital sources proved to be the industry’s largest profit generator, accounting for €506 million of the overall sum.
Over in the U.K., industry leaders also reported strong results from 2021. The British Phonographic Industry (BPI) reports that recorded music sales totaled £1.26 billion, making it the industry’s seventh straight year of growth. Again, streaming services provided the lion’s share of that number, pulling in £837.2 million.
CDs also saw a surprising rise in sales, generating £117.2 million in their first increase since 2017. The biggest surprise, however, come in the form of vinyl thanks to a 34% increase in sales of the format.
Vinyl has seen somewhat of a renaissance since the COVID-19, with demand in 2021 so high that suppliers had trouble keeping up.
