Entertainment retailing sees best growth in four years

Fast-growing digital services such as Spotify and Netflix helped entertainment retailing in 2013 deliver what is believed to have been its best growth since 2009, according to figures released by the Entertainment Retailers Association (ERA).

In 2013, the overall UK music, video and games market was worth £5.4 billion, up 4% on 2012 when it was worth £5.1 billion.

The fastest growing entertainment categories last year were mostly digital, with digital video, which includes iTunes downloads as well as streaming services like Netflix, LOVEFiLM and Blinkbox, growing by 40.2% to £6.21 billion

Digital games, which covers mobile gaming as well as PC and console downloads, grew by 16.4% to £1.18 billion, while music streaming grew by 33.7% to £1 billion.

The best performing physical formats were Blu-ray video, up 10% to £2.5 billion, while vinyl albums saw sales more than double to £14.6 million.

“Retailers have invested hundreds of millions of pounds in new digital services and these numbers suggest the public is responding in their droves,” said Kim Bayley, director general, ERA.

“New technologies have historically presented challenges to the entertainment business, but these results show how our members are helping music, video and games companies find new markets.”