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 UK record industry releases 2005 sales figures : 6:1:2006 New figures released today by UK record companies' trade association the BPI show that a late Christmas sales boom, a rapidly expanding digital market and a growing appetite for homegrown talent contributed to UK music having one of its best years yet. Despite gloomy retail reports throughout 2005, strong sales in the last few weeks of the year and the sustained success of British-signed artists helped end the year on a positive note. Sales of artist albums increased 1.4% on 2004 - itself a record year - to enjoy their best year yet at 126.2 million units. This high comes after six years of year-on-year growth in artist album sales from 87.7m in 1999 to 126.2m in 2005, an increase of 44% in just six years. The strength and attractiveness of artist albums put pressure on sales of compilations, which fell nearly 16%, but overall album sales were down just 2.7%. 2005 at a glance ** Best year in history for the artist album, with sales up 1.4% on 2005 ** ** ** Pre-Christmas boom lifts sales 40% in record week for albums ** ** Compilations down 15.7% ** ** The single's recovery continues as annual single-track purchases rise 48% ** ** 26.4 million downloads sold in 2005, up 357% ** ** Weekly download sales top 1 million for the first time in final week of 2005 ** Sales in the pre-Christmas week (wk 51) saw album sales soar by 40% on the same week in 2004, in a week that saw albums sales top 10.6 million - the biggest weekly album sales figure ever recorded. Download sales up to one million a week The week between Christmas and New Year (wk 52) saw another significant milestone passed as weekly digital sales topped 1 million units for the first time. An uplift in digital sales in the final week of the year - much of it prompted by consumers who got new digital music players for Christmas - coupled with the race for the Christmas number one, saw almost 2 million downloads sold in the last two weeks of the year. And once again, British-signed talent is behind the success - in the albums market, 2005's runaway debut success story James Blunt, Kaiser Chiefs and KT Tunstall were joined by hotly anticipated albums from established acts such as Coldplay, Gorillaz and Robbie Williams. The figures were collated by the Official UK Chart Company (OCC) which monitors sales in almost 6,000 stores and internet sites across the BPI chairman Peter Jamieson said: "A rich crop of albums from both debut and established acts meant that 2005 will be remembered as yet another great year for British music, and helped us record the best year ever for artist album sales." "And the music industry's firm line on digital music piracy and its support for new digital music retailers has seen the digital music market grow by 350% in 2005." Compilations down as consumers opt for DIY, and piracy The growth in digital and the best-ever year for artist albums helped the Although established compilation brands such as Now! (EMI / Universal) and Clubland (All Around The World / UMTV) sustained strong sales throughout 2005 - after a steady growth in compilation sales through 2000-2004, the compilation market dipped by 15.7% in 2005. Illegal compilations bought from markets and boot fairs, particularly in compressed MP3s on CD-R is the fastest growing form of piracy, increasing by 100% in 2004. While many consumers are now opting to use legal digital music services to do DIY compilations, both CD burning in the home and commercial music piracy are putting pressure on compilation sales. <ENDS> EDITORS NOTES The BPI is the trade association for the Figures are given in millions of units. These figures are sales registered “over the counter”, through retail outlets in the The BPI figures differ because they account for mail order sales and feature a multiplier effect that takes double albums into account. 2005’s Top-Selling Albums 1. James Blunt - Back to Bedlam ( 2. Coldplay - X&Y (Parlophone - EMI) 3. Robbie Williams - Intensive Care (Chrysalis - EMI) 4. Kaiser Chiefs - Employment (B Unique/ Polydor - Universal) 5. Gorillaz - Demon Days (Parlophone - EMI) 6. Westlife - Face to Face (S – Sony-BMG) 7. KT Tunstall - Eye to the Telescope (Relentless - EMI) 8. Kelly Clarkson - Breakaway (RCA – Sony-BMG) 9. Eminem - Curtain Call - The Hits (Interscope - Universal) 10. Faithless - Forever Faithless - The Greatest Hits (Cheeky – Sony-BMG) 2005’s Top-Selling Single Tracks 1. Tony Christie featuring Peter Kay - (Is This The Way To) 2. Shayne Ward - That's My Goal (SYCO Music - Sony-BMG) 3. Crazy Frog - Axel F (Gusto - Gut) 4. James Blunt - You're Beautiful ( 5. Pussycat Dolls 6. McFly - All About You/ You've Got A Friend ( 7. Akon - Lonely (Universal - Universal) 8. Madonna - Hung Up (Warner Bros - Warner Music) 9. Westlife - You Raise Me Up (S - Sony-BMG) 10. Sugababes - Push The Button ( Artist Albums (sales, millions of units) 2004 = 124.4 2005 = 126.2 Change; 2004/5 = +1.4% Total Albums (sales, millions of units) 2004 = 163.4 2005 = 159.0 Change; 2004/5 = -2.7% Single Track Sales (millions of units) *Total 2004 = 32.3 2005 = 47.9 Change; 2004/5 = +48.4% *Physical 2004 = 26.5 2005 = 21.4 Change; 2004/5 = -19.1% *Digital 2004 = 5.8m 2005 = 26.4m Change; 2004/5 = +357.3% < ENDS > For further information, please contact: BPI Communications Department T: 020 7803 1395 | ||
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