Spotify, Netflix and Apple boost UK entertainment revenue to all-time high

Surging digital revenues from the likes of Spotify, Apple Music, Netflix and Amazon Prime pushed the UK’s combined games, video and music entertainment markets to a record-breaking £6.1 billion in 2015, with growth up across all sectors, according to the latest figures from the Entertainment Retailers Association and GfK.

Waving goodbye to the £5.2 billion ‘low-point’ recorded in 2012, video revenue was up 1.5% year on year in 2015, while music was up 3.5% and games up a significant 10% – bolstered by increasing investment by new digital retailers and services.

In music, streaming services such as Spotify, Apple Music, Deezer and Amazone Prime Music helped increase sales by almost 50% to £251 million over the year.

With more than 2.6 million sales in the six weeks to the end of the year, Adele’s 25 album topped the entertainment charts, while Ed Sheeran’s X came in ninth (1m) and Sam Smith’s In The Lonely hour 11th (925,150).

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In video, digital revenues from services such as Netflix, Amazon Prime and Sky Store exceeded £1 billion for the first time, while games digital revenues from online and mobile services – which are more than those of music and video combined – grew a massive 17% to £1.9 billion.

FIFA 16, Call of Duty: Black Ops III, Fallout 4, Star Wars Battlefront and Grand Theft Auto V were among the most popular games of the year.

“10 years ago the entertainment business was on the edge of a precipice,” said Kim Bayley, CEO of the ERA. “Piracy was rampant and there were few legal alternatives. Thanks to huge investments by the likes of Apple and Steam and Netflix and Spotify, there has been a significant turnaround.

“From indie record stores to video on demand, from High Street chains to streaming services, internet retail and supermarkets, there has never been such a wide variety of ways for people to get the music, video and games they want.”

While digital generated the most growth in 2015, the figures reveal that established disc-based formats continue to remain the formats of choice for millions.

Vinyl album sales were up a huge 65% year on year to £42 million; however, still only account for just 6% of the album market.

Elsewhere, the Xbox One and PS4 helped drive games console revenue up 1.6% to £866 million, while the compact disc – launched in 1982 – recorded its best year in a decade, declining just -3.7% and generating sales of £468 million.