LONDON – Proposed changes to UK copyright law that would allow technology companies to freely use songs for artificial intelligence training without permission could jeopardize the UK’s status as a “world music power”, record company trade body BPI has warned.
Hit records from Charli XCX, Sabrina Carpenter, Coldplay and Taylor Swift helped the UK streaming market hit an all-time high in 2024, with nearly 200 billion music tracks streamed in 12 months, up 11% year-on-year, according to statistics Tuesday ( December 31) year-end data released by BPI.
The organization reports that overall recorded music consumption across streaming and physical album sales is up a tenth (9.7%) from 201 million equivalent albums in 2023, marking a decade of uninterrupted growth. It has more than 500 independent record companies and the three major British music groups: Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment and Warner Music Group.
However, the BPI said the UK music industry’s success was facing challenges on multiple fronts, including fierce competition from other global markets and proposed regulations around the use of artificial intelligence (AI).
The UK government announced proposed AI guidance two weeks ago (December 17) as part of a 10-week consultation on how tech companies can legally use copyright-protected content such as music to train generative AI models . One of the controversial new material-exploring exceptions allows developers to use copyrighted songs for artificial intelligence training, including for commercial purposes, but only if the rights holder does not retain their rights.
Chief Executive Officer of BPI Joe Twist said the proposed opt-out mechanism was “the wrong way to realize the exciting potential of artificial intelligence” and would allow “international tech giants to train artificial intelligence models on artists’ works without payment or permission,” thereby making it The UK’s music and creative industries are at risk.
“The UK remains a world music powerhouse, but this status cannot be taken for granted,” Twist said in a statement accompanying Tuesday’s year-end figures. She said that to continue to thrive, the UK music industry needed “a supportive policy environment that focuses on human artistry and is able to sustainably invest in the next generation of British talent.”
In the current generation, more than 20 British groups and solo artists topped the UK album charts in 2024, although Charli XCX and Coldplay were the only local artists in the top ten best-selling artist albums chart that year, taking the eighth and ninth spots respectively . boy and moon musicrespectively. Veteran British and American rock band Fleetwood Mac won the seventh most popular album of the year with their compilation album 50 years – don’t stop.
Taylor Swift’s year-end album tops charts tortured poets departmentSince its release in April, the album has sold more than 783,000 equivalent copies, making it the highest-selling release by the artist in a calendar year since 2017, according to BPI. tortured poets department is one of four Swift albums to rank among the top 20 albums of the year, along with Swift 1989 (Taylor version), lover and folklore.
Overall, female artists accounted for six and 20 of the top 20 best-selling artist albums in the UK last year, with Sabrina Carpenter, Billie Eilish, Chappie Hit albums from Chappell Roan and Olivia Rodrigo made it a landmark year for women.
The female artist also spent an unprecedented 34 consecutive weeks at No. 1 on the UK Official Singles Chart, driven largely by Carpenter, who had three hit singles “Espresso”, “Please Please Please” and “Taste” ” topped the list for 21 consecutive weeks. Last year’s best-selling single in the UK was Noah Kahan’s “Stick Season”, which spent seven weeks at the top of the UK charts, followed by Benson Boone’s Beautiful Things by Benson Boone.
Vinyl helps physical album sales return to growth
BPI reports that streaming now accounts for 88.8% of UK music sales in terms of formats, a slight increase of 1.1% on 2023 figures and more than double streaming’s UK market share six years ago.
Meanwhile, physical sales increased year-on-year for the first time since 1994, with vinyl and CD album sales rising 1.4% to 17.4 million. Driving the recovery in physical formats is the 17th consecutive year of growth in vinyl record sales, an increase of just over 9% to 6.7 million units, a three-year high.
The most popular vinyl album this year is Swift’s tortured poets departmentselling over 111,000 vinyl copies, followed by a 30th anniversary reissue of Oasis’ debut album absolutely possible. Other best-selling vinyl records include Eilish’s Hit me hard, hit me softlyDC Fountain’ romantichealing Song of the Lost World with Charli XCX boy.
CD sales fell 2.9% annually to 10.5 million units, a sharp slowdown from a 19% decline in 2022 and a nearly 7% decline in 2023 sales.
BPI’s preliminary year-end report does not include financial sales figures. Instead, it uses Official Charts Company data to measure UK music consumption. The London-based organization will release its full year-end report, including recorded music revenue, later this year.
The UK is the world’s third-largest recorded music market after the United States and Japan, with sales expected to reach $1.9 billion by 2023, according to IFPI. It is also the world’s second largest exporter of records after the United States.
However, fierce competition from other international markets, including Latin America and fast-growing countries such as South Korea, has caused the UK’s share of the global recorded music market to shrink over the past decade.
According to BPI export data, British artists accounted for a cumulative 17% of global music streams in 2015. The figure currently stands at 10%, with British artists accounting for just nine of the top 40 songs played in the country last year, the highest being Myles Smith’s “Stargazing” at No. 12.
“From Coldplay and Charli XCX, to The Last Evening Party and Myles Smith, there are many successful examples in the British music industry in 2024. But in the fast-changing and fiercely competitive global music, domestic talent also faces increasing challenges. BPI’s Jo Twist said.
“By confronting the growing global challenges of artificial intelligence, copyright and streaming fraud head-on, and encouraging consumers to adopt viable models such as paid streaming subscriptions, we can help ensure the value of British music is protected protection, and our industry can continue to grow and thrive here at home and around the world,” she said.
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Music Business Year in Review
