Music Streaming Services Record Their Biggest Year To Date In 2013, As CD Sales Continue To Decline

Music streaming services such as Spotify and Deezer experienced their most successful year to date during 2013, as online streaming continues to rapidly ascend past traditional means of music sales. Membership and usage of online streaming services rose to an all time high, accounting for roughly 10% of all record label income.

Spotify continues to terrify record execs.

According to figures acquired by the British Recorded Music Industry (BPI), close to 7.4 billion songs were streamed by UK listeners alone, twice the amount of last year. Music revenue was boosted to around £1 billion through these streams, with subscriptions accosting to £103 million a year, a 34% rise on 2012. These figures only take into account paid-for streaming services that include advertisements, neglecting to take into account the streams gathered from free services and YouTube or Vevo.

Meanwhile, physical formats are in an overall decline, with CD sales plummeting and vinyl sales continuing their steady return to popularity. Despite the continued decline of the format, the CD isn't dead yet as it still accounts for nearly 64% of sales by volume in the UK. LP sales have increased by 101% over the past year, accounting for 780,000 sales.

The Arctic Monkeys were the most streamed artist of the year in the UK

Read our review of Arctic Monkey's AM

The BPI list also reveals the most successful artists of the year, with the Arctic Monkeys earning the title of 'Most Streamed Artist of 2013.' Their album AM was also the most popular vinyl release of the year in the UK, whilst Now That's What I Call Music 86 was the biggest release across all formats. Bastille's Bad Blood is the biggest selling digital album of the year, with One Direction's Midnight Memories the biggest selling artist's album of the year, but neither could beat the selling power of the latest Now That's What I Call Music.

Here's what we had to say about Midnight Memories

BPI Chief Executive Geoff Taylor said in relation to the surge of popularity in streaming: “The success of digital music in 2013 surpassed all previous records – we celebrated the one billionth track download, counted four million-selling digital singles, and streamed more than 7 billion songs. As digital music moves into the streaming era, the prospects for future growth in the UK music market look strong."

Watch the video for One Direction's Midnight Memories cut 'Story of My Life'