Streaming and subscription music services top charts, vinyl around too

Vinyl record sales are booming in the U.S. and UK, it's just too bad this isn't 1985.

Despite the recent re-infatuation with vinyl, up 32 percent in the U.S. and 101 percent in the UK, the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) in its 2014 Digital Music Report said that quite a few more people are sticking with more modern methods of acquiring music.

28 million people worldwide now pay for a music subscription, up from 20 million in 2012, through services like Spotify, Pandora and Deezer. These subscription and streaming services saw sales grow 51.3 percent in 2013 passing the $1 billion mark for the first time. Money poured into these services now account for 27 percent of all digital music revenues.

" Record companies continue to license many new services, with Beats Music and iTunes Radio recently launching in the US. The industry hopes and expects these services to spread quickly around the world, the IFPI said.

Music downloads remained the primary driver behind the music industry accounting for 67 percent of all digital revenue, this is down 2.1 percent as people have switched to the streaming and subscription services. Where downloads are proving important is in markets like Hong Kong, the Philippines and South Africa where they are the leading force in getting music lovers to go digital.

Compact Discs and other physical formats may be looked down upon by many, but the IFPI noted that they still account for the majority of all music revenues worldwide, 51.4 percent, down from 56 percent in 2012. This number is a bit misleading as physical format sales fell sharply, 11.7 percent, in the more developed markets.

The IFPI was pleased overall with the industry last year. Sales fell 3.9 percent to $15 billion. The group noted that the very important Japanese market was the main drag on sales with its domestic number falling 16.7 percent. However, when this number is removed from the equation worldwide revenue was just about flat, something IFPI considered a plus.

IFPI said Japan's trouble stems from the fact that many listeners there retain legacy mobile music players and that physical format music is only just starting to decline. Essentially that country is about to go through what the U.S. and Europe endured 10 years ago.

Japan was counterbalanced somewhat by Europe which saw growth in revenue for the first time in 12 years.

IFPI also launched the inaugural issue of its Global Recording Artist Chart in January that measured an artist's popularity in 2013.

Source: IFPI