London, England. Photo credit: Benjamin Davies
UK recorded music exports hit a record high of £590.8m (currently $706.85m) in 2021, according to newly released data, as a record number of UK artists have accumulated north of 100 million streams each.
The British Phonographic Industry (BPI) has revealed these and other UK music industry statistics in a report released today. It’s worth recalling right away that a parliamentary committee last year completed an in-depth investigation into the contemporary music space – and called for a “complete reset” of the streaming economy at the end of the year. ‘investigation.
Bearing in mind this recommendation and the criticisms strongly voiced by members of the music community throughout the highly publicized survey, much of the BPI’s analysis focuses on the achievements of “emerging artists and revolutionaries” and independent labels themselves.
“The breadth and variety of British artists achieving hundreds of millions of global streams each year goes far beyond the obvious superstar names,” the document reads in part, also pointing out that “many less familiar and new British artists from all countries and regions of the UK now achieves tens of millions of global streams every year.
Looking at the UK music industry’s international revenue and stream totals, however, the BPI revealed a 13.7% year-on-year jump in the former category, to 590, £8m originally mentioned.
By market, overall UK music consumption (including streaming, physical and downloads) grew by 17.6% in Europe, 11% in North America and 11.1% in Asia in 2021, according to the organization.
Around half of the world’s largest music consumption markets in the UK saw double-digit growth (of music enjoyed by UK artists) last year, the entity also said, including an increase of 61.2% year-on-year for China, which accounted for £12.2 million ($14.60 million). ) and ranked ninth.
The value of music consumption in the UK in 2021 and year-on-year growth in other markets includes: £228.7m/US$273.64m (up 10 .4% vs 2021), £55.9m/$66.89m for Germany (up 31.3%), £36.8m/$44.03m dollars. for France (up 20.1%), £26.7m/$31.94m for Australia (up 8.5%), £20.1m/$24.05 million for Canada (up 18%) and £19.6 million/$23.45 million for Japan (down 3.2%) .
Specifically on the streaming front, the BPI said more than 200 UK artists generated at least 200 million streams each in 2021, compared to nearly 400 UK artists who logged over 100 million streams globally each. Additionally, 600 artists secured 50 million streams during the year and 1,500 professionals reached 10 million streams, according to the report.
Finally, UK artists with the most streams in 2021 – but not a top 40 single or top 10 album domestically – include Asking Alexandria (2.82 million monthly listeners on Spotify), Honne (4.50 million monthly listeners on Spotify), Banners (6.71 million), James TW (5.54 million), Bishop Briggs (3.67 million), Lovejoy (1.65 million), Cavetown (7.76 million), Novo Amor (4.94 million), Ella Mai (6.78 million) and Wilbur Soot (1.70 million).
