// UK music lovers bought the equivalent of 154 million albums in 2019
// Streaming reaches record highs
// Vinyl sales as popular as they were in 1980s
Music sales are far from over as new research finds UK music fans have bought or streamed the equivalent of 154 million albums in 2019.
Music industry body BPI’s annual report found music consumption in the UK hit its highest levels since 2006, when the UK bought the equivalent of 161.4 million albums.
READ MORE: Does HMV have a future on the UK’s high street?
The equivalent of 114 million albums of music were legally streamed in 2019, across platforms including Spotify, Apple, Amazon and Deezer, representing a rise of almost one quarter since 2018.
Meanwhile sales of CDs fell 26.5 per cent to 23.5 million last year, accounting for just 15 per cent of total music sold.
BPI said UK music fans had instead listened to 114 billion tracks on streaming services last year.
The industry body considers every 1,000 tracks streamed to equate to one real-world album sale.
Streaming accounted for three-quarters of all album equivalent sales in the UK last year, up from less than a quarter four years ago – with physical albums still accounting for the majority of sales.
Vinyl sales hit 4.3 million for 2019, representing 12 years of consecutive growth and consumer popularity not seen since 1980s.
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