Entertainment retail sales reached an all-time record high in 2016 as digital services like Spotify, Apple Music and Sky enhanced the industry.
New figures from the Entertainment Retailers Association (ERA) show that entertainment retail sales reached £6.3 billion in 2016, up three per cent on 2015 which was a 53-week year, and taking in over £1 billion more than in 2012.
Digital sales of music, video and games encouraged this growth with the video market becoming a majority digital market for the first time.
Nearly 60 per cent of revenues now come from downloads and subscription services, overtaking DVD and Blu-ray sales significantly.
Subscription services continued to grow by 22.8 per cent in 2016. Music revenues grew by 4.6 per cent, nearly doubling the growth of both video and gaming.
Non-physical sales also account for 57 per cent of music revenues despite vinyl maintaining a healthy resurgence up 56.4 per cent from 2015.
READ MORE: Is UK gaming retail going the same way as music?
Despite this, digital downloads dropped by 26.8 per cent, offset by a monumental 65 per cent rise in subscription services.
A similar trend can be seen in the gaming market which has digital sales accounting for nearly three quarters of revenues, and grew by a further 12.1 per cent.
Despite physical sales dropping by 16.4 per cent, respite came with a 21.3 per cent increase in handheld games.
ERA chief executive Kim Bayley said: “The music, video and games industries were understandably nervous about the advent of new digital services, but these figures provide resounding evidence of the benefits of our members‘ investment in innovation.
“To have added over £1 billion in new revenues in just four years is an incredible achievement. To put it another way, take away today‘s digital services and the entertainment market would be barely a third the size it is today.”
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