New generation of British artists helped UK recorded music market in 2025 surpass £1.5 billion in annual revenue for the first time
BPI reports UK recorded music revenue increased for an 11th consecutive year in 2025, rising by 5.0% to a new nominal high of £1.57 billion.
Streaming revenue rose by a further 4.6% to a new record level of £1.07 billion.
Physical music revenue increased for a third consecutive year, led by a 19.9% lift in vinyl sales.
These encouraging numbers come amid growing international recognition for this new wave of British artists and makes the government’s continued support for copyright frameworks and the UK’s creative industries crucial, says BPI CEO Dr Jo Twist OBE.
The UK recorded music market exceeded £1.5 billion in annual revenue1 for the first time in 2025 as a new generation of artists such as Olivia Dean, Lola Young, and Skye Newman helped British music to get back on its front foot, reports the BPI, the representative voice for the UK’s world-leading record companies and label businesses.
Total revenue, which combines income from streaming, physical music, digital downloads, synchronisation (sync), and public performance2, rose by 5.0% year-on-year to a nominal high of £1.57 billion. This outpaced the annual growth achieved the year before, with the market now growing for 11 consecutive years. Revenue in 2025 was nearly 90% higher than it was the decade before3.
Olivia Dean and Lola Young – both Grammy and BRIT Award winners in 2026, Skye Newman, SIENNA SPIRO, rapper EsDeeKid, and the rock artists Sleep Token and YUNGBLUD led this new British generation who helped to lift the market. Alongside them, other recently emerged stars to make their mark included Central Cee, Chrystal, FLO, The Last Dinner Party, Myles Smith, PinkPantheress, RAYE, Wet Leg, Wolf Alice, and Mercury Prize winner, Sam Fender. They were joined by established UK superstar artists who also enjoyed notable success last year, such as Calvin Harris, Charli xcx, Dave, Ed Sheeran, Lewis Capaldi, Lily Allen, Oasis, and The Cure.
Having broken through the £1 billion annual barrier in 2024, the streaming market hit another record high last year with revenue up by 4.6% to £1.07 billion. Compared to annual rises of 5.7% in 2024 and 8.4% in 2023, this marks a slight slowdown but still represents substantial growth for a maturing market. Streaming accounted for 67.7% of recorded music revenue, a small drop from 68.1% the year before as physical music sales grew at a faster rate in 2025.
Annual streaming revenue has increased by nearly two-thirds since the start of the decade, highlighting the long-term partnership and investment between artists and record labels from every genre of music. The geographic spread of success was highlighted by artists from nine of the UK’s 12 nations and regions topping the UK Official Albums Chart in 2025. These included artists from North-East England (Sam Fender), North-West England (The Lottery Winners, The K’s, Oasis), Scotland (Biffy Clyro), Wales (Stereophonics, Those Damn Crows), West Midlands (Robbie Williams), and Yorkshire & the Humber (Pulp, YUNGBLUD).
Annual physical music revenue totalled more than £250 million for the first time in eight years, as the vinyl market rose by 19.9% year-on-year, and CD revenue also grew. Physical sales rose by 12.8% to £278.0 million, a third consecutive year of growth. Vinyl revenue climbed to £174.7 million to take it to its highest level in more than three decades. Following a 0.5% decline in 2024, CD revenue increased by 3.1% last year to £99.6 million.
Dr Jo Twist OBE, BPI Chief Executive, said:
“Beyond the positive headlines, what is especially satisfying about this 11th consecutive annual rise in UK recorded music revenue is that it has been in part driven by a resurgence in British music with a new generation of artists breaking through. Its impact is being felt not just at home but globally, highlighted by the recent Grammy wins of Olivia Dean, Lola Young and others, as well as on streaming services and music charts around the world.
“This success is a testament to our brilliant record labels and shows what can be achieved in the right business environment. Underpinning this success is the UK’s gold-standard copyright framework, and it remains essential that this is safeguarded by our policymakers as a burgeoning market to license music to AI firms takes root.”
YolanDa Brown OBE DL – artist, music education campaigner and BPI Chair, said:
“As anyone who saw this year’s BRIT Awards in Manchester can testify, British music is in incredibly strong health and much of it is being led by outstanding new talent drawn from across the UK. Given the intense global competition, I know how increasingly hard it is for our music to compete when fans have endless choices, so this success shows what can be achieved when artists of all backgrounds are paired with world-class record labels backing their careers. Provided our labels can continue this support unhindered, there is a very bright future for British music.”
Annual streaming subscription revenue moves above £900 million to reach new high
Ad-supported streaming surpassed £150 million in annual revenue for the first time in 2025, growing by 13.9% to £163.4 million. Within this, ad-supported audio streaming increased by 21.8% to £97.2 million. However, subscription revenue continues to account for the vast majority of UK streaming, accounting for 84.7% of the market. Paid subscriptions from services including Amazon, Apple, Spotify and YouTube brought in £902.2 million across the year, up 3.1% year-on-year. Digital download revenue fell by 5.9% to £22.9 million.
Alex Warren’s Ordinary was the only track to generate more than 200 million audio and video streams in the UK in 2025. Its 261.9 million streams were more than 94 million ahead of APT by Rosé & Bruno Mars in second place. Five tracks managed 150 million-plus streams during 2025, including UK artist Lola Young’s Messy, while 18 surpassed 100 million streams, one more than the year before. These included hits by UK artists Chrystal (The Days) and Olivia Dean (Man I Need). Two hits by Myles Smith – Stargazing and Nice to Meet You, were just a few million streams short of this benchmark.
Vinyl sales rise by 19.9% year-on-year as CD returns to growth
Having now grown in revenue for 16 years consecutively, an expanding vinyl market has become something of the norm, but the growth it achieved in 2025 was notable even by its own high recent standards. Its 19.9% year-on-year rise brought in an additional £29.0 million compared to 2024. With 2025 revenue of £174.7 million, vinyl accounted for 62.9% of all physical music sales last year, up from 59.1% in 2024.
Taylor Swift played a starring role in the vinyl story with The Life of a Showgirl selling more than 147,000 vinyl albums in 2025, the most by any new album in a calendar year this century. She also had the fourth biggest vinyl album of the year with Lover (Live from Paris).
The year’s top vinyl sellers were dominated by new releases, including by Olivia Dean (The Art of Loving), Sabrina Carpenter (Man’s Best Friend) and Sam Fender (People Watching), highlighting the ever-growing appeal of the format among younger generations of music fans. Catalogue continued to play a big part, highlighted by Oasis’s first two albums Definitely Maybe and (What’s The Story) Morning Glory appearing among the year’s Top 10 on the back of their reunion tour, and overall, the band’s success contributed to the market’s revenue growth in 2025. Joining them in their timeless appeal was Fleetwood Mac’s evergreen Rumours.
CDs return to growth as annual revenue moves close to £100 million
Though CD did not match vinyl’s sales lift, there was still encouraging news with its 3.1% rise to £99.6 million giving the format its best annual revenue total since 2021. As with vinyl, Taylor Swift was the main driving force behind the format’s sales increases with The Life of a Showgirl selling around 226,000 CDs by year’s end, while other big sellers included albums by Ed Sheeran (Play) and Lady Gaga (Mayhem). The biggest CD sellers in 2025 were all new or recent releases, highlighting that its dominant driving force is now current albums.
Public performance income holds steady while synchronisation eases back
Public performance income, which is generated by the broadcast and public performance of recorded music, fell slightly, with revenue declining by 0.6% year-on-year to £162.6 million. Revenue from synchronisation, which occurs when music is used in visual formats such as a film, TV show, game or in commercials, declined by 10.8% to £39.2 million.