Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish and Dua Lipa are among the artists with the most physical sales, as vinyl copies continue to remain popular. Data suggests that the CD could be set for its very own revival..
. The new statistics from the Official Charts Company and BPI detail a 3.2% increase in physical music sales in the first half of 2024, with 8,044,760 units sold in the UK.
This marks the first time figures have risen since the streaming boom that began in 2004. Indeed, overall physical album sales have not registered a year-on-year increase since 2004, when there was a 2.6% uplift to 163.
4 million units. At the same midway point in 2023, physical albums growth was still negative (-0.3%), while the 12-month result last year was down 1.
1%. The vinyl boom has not yet put physical music into positive growth in recent years; CD is still the dominant format in unit terms. It has seen large declines, but this could change in 2024.
Vinyl remains once again the driver with a 12.4% year-on-year increase for the first six months to 3,052,498 units. CD sales for the half-year were down 1.
5% to 4,911,845 units. While thsi figure represents a loss of around 75,000 sales, it marks a significant slowing of decline compared to recent years and could also suggest that CD is set for its very own revival. Speaking to for their half-year analysis, BPI’s chief executive Jo Twist said: “Ever since sales of vinyl LPs started rising again more than 15 years ago, the compact disc has been in the sh.
