THE NEW MUSICAL BOX

UK ALBUM SALES INCREASE IN 2013

I know we're supposed to be lamenting the gradual loss of the music industry "as we know it", but despite the massive state of flux in which it finds itself, it has seen some real growth in the first three months of this year. 

The BPI, the trade body of the British Recorded Music Industry, have released a set of very revealing figures which show that combined CD and digital album sales were up 1.4% in the three months to the end of March. That might not sound like very much, but the trend had been stuttering since 2010 and, of course, we've also endured some pretty grim weather so far in 2013 which hasn't made it any easier out on the High Street. Digging into the figures, it's even more positive as it's the first quarter's growth since the last quarter of 2009. I suspect some of the growth came from massive discounting at HMV before it was rescued, but nevertheless, it's another sign that the music-buying public might be returning to their former habits.

In my last piece (available here), I highlighted three trends which might help give the industry a nudge in the right direction - the saving of HMV, the growth of crowd-funding phenomena such as Kickstarter and the annual music fest that is Record Store Day. Is there a link between these and the growth in sales? I think we need to leave it another quarter at least before we draw any firm conclusions, but my gut feel is that, well, they can't have done any harm, can they?

Let's take a more detailed look at the BPI figures.

Album Sales Hit 23.3 Million

Compared to the same period last year, an extra 300,000 albums have been sold in the first quarter. In the increasingly digital world, that's no mean feat since consumers have shown an increasing preference for individual songs and singles - a trend which has seen singles sales (often boosted by back catalogue content) become very healthy indeed. Beneath that figure, CD sales continue to decline and digital albums increase, the latter format accounting for 9 million (38.6%). A positive sign for audiophiles was the continuing growth of vinyl LPs, the growth (albeit from a low base) was an incredible 78.1% - the third quarter of growth and one which underlines that bands and record labels are increasingly getting their sales strategies right.

David Bowie
Surprise return in February with his first new album
in some ten years - in went straight to number one
despite no formal publicity, interviews or
 appearances. Just the power of dropping a
video onto You Tube and sitting back.

The overall sales growth has also been helped by a combination of striking new artists emerging (such as Emeli Sande, Jake Bugg and Mumford & Sons), the enduring popularity of the "Now" series of compilations (the 84th having just been released) and the sudden and welcome rebirth of David Bowie and his new album, The Next Day. Another key aspect of the numbers is the relative health of indie bands and labels with their releases and growing confidence in the still uncertain economic climate. Acts such as Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Biffy Clyro, Bastille, The Stereophonics and Atoms For Peace all sold well and helped the "indies" to secure more than 11% of total sales. Pleasingly, veteran artist Richard Thompson with his new album Electric saw a return to the mainstream charts and is so far well within the Top 20 selling indie artists of the year.

Table 1 - Top 20 Best-Selling Albums - Q1, 2013

Table 2 - Top 20 Best-Selling Indie Albums - Q1, 2013 

Singles Sales Continue Upward Trends

There's a view that the weekly music charts on Radio 1 no longer have the cachet or influence that they once did.

The received wisdom is that nobody buys singles anymore, we no longer all gather around the radio on a Sunday to listen to the run-down and that since the demise of TV's Top of The Pops, everything's so much more fragmented these days.

Macklemore & Ryan Lewis
Half a million sales for Thrift Shop

It is true that the race to achieve a big-selling number one hit is somewhat devalued other than during the run-in to Christmas. It takes fewer sales than of yore to get into the charts or the top twenty and thus, the number one slot - but despite this, sales continue to grow. The first quarter this year saw 48.5 million singles sold, nearly one for every member of the population of England and a 3.9% increase on the same period in 2012 and continuing a growth trend started some while ago. How does this equate with the lower sales per single to get in the charts? The truth is that there are more singles available than before (as noted before, digital back catalogues have become very popular) and purchases have become much more diverse. Even so, the biggest selling single so far this year has sold a massive 510,000 -  rappers Macklemore and Ryan Lewis seem to have got the touch as far as the single-buying public is concerned.

Another trend which is having an impact is the increasing ease by which bands can get their music produced and published: there's an immediacy with releasing songs that didn't exist in a purely vinyl or CD era. Artists no longer have to wait to create a killer album, they're taking more and more advantage of the EP format, four or five songs to test the water and grow their base. Whilst EPs probably barely scratch the surface in terms of total UK sales, they play an important role in maintaining band name awareness - so critical for the music press and buyers alike.

Where Next?

Indie darling Laura Marling - her much anticipated
fourth album "Once I Was An Eagle" is due for
release on May 27th. Big sales are expected. 

There are a number of key album releases lined up for the current quarter, ranging from indie folk songstress Laura Marling through Michael Buble to the re-invented Rod Stewart. With HMV saved and a High Street presence secured, with Record Store Day looming this coming Saturday (April 20th) and general UK retail sales showing some small signs of recovery, I'd bet that the album growth trend will continue.

In a world where we all have our likes and dislikes, the bands and artists who we love and enjoy and those we despise, does any of this talk of *growth* really matter? I think it does. It breeds a confidence which feeds through to musicians, whether they are experienced acts or just those barely starting out. With that confidence, there's a chance for them to make some music - and a good chance that we'll get to listen to it.

And that is to be applauded.

Alan Dorey