STREAMING BOOM HELPS ENTERTAINMENT OUTSTRIP THE PRINTED WORD

SPENDING ON MUSIC, VIDEO AND GAMES OVERTAKES BOOKS, MAGAZINES AND NEWSPAPERS FOR THE FIRST TIME

[and Ed Sheeran’s Divide outsells every other album, game and video!]

1 March 2018: The British public spent more money on music, video and games in 2017 than on books, magazines and newspapers, according to official figures published for the first time in the Entertainment Retailers Association (ERA) Yearbook out today.

It is the first time in history that revenues from entertainment exceeded those of the printed word.

The key driver is the dramatic growth of digital services from the likes of Spotify, Steam, Netflix, Amazon, Deezer, Sky, Apple and Google.

According to research prepared for ERA by the Leisure Industries Research Centre at Sheffield Hallam University, Britons spent £7.2bn on music, video and games in 2017 compared with £7.1bn on books, magazines and newspapers.

While entertainment sales reached an all-time-high for the third year in succession, spending on the printed word was stagnant and substantially down on its 2007 peak of £8.3bn.

“It is an extraordinary testament to the appeal and resonance of digital entertainment services that they have helped home entertainment to hit this milestone nearly 550 years since the invention of the printing press,” said ERA CEO Kim Bayley.

2017 was a banner year for the entertainment industry with revenues reaching £7.24bn, up 8.8% on 2016. That 8.8% growth rate exceeded that of virtually every sector monitored by the Leisure Industries Research Centre including Eating Out (up 7.7%), Alcoholic Drink (up 6%), Holidays Overseas (up 4.4%) and Gambling (up 1%). Total leisure spending was up 5.2%.

Dr Themis Kokolakakis from the Leisure Industries Research Centre said, “The 2008-2009 recession hurt both the entertainment and reading markets. Since 2012, the entertainment market has recovered very strongly producing record 2017 results. Traditional media is under pressure, partly because of the growth of streaming services, partly because there is so much competition for people’s time and attention. Entertainment has grown while reading has stagnated.”

Said Bayley, “The success of the UK entertainment market is ultimately the result of collaboration between the creatives, studios and labels who produce compelling content and the retailers and services who bring it to the public.”

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Elsewhere in the ERA Yearbook, figures show the dramatic change in the make-up of the entertainment business. Five years ago more than 80% of revenues were generated by buy-to-own formats such as discs or downloads. In 2017 56% of revenues came from so-called access models like music and video streaming, electronic movie rental or subscriptions to online multiplayer games, paying for digital micro-transactions and making in-app purchases on mobile devices.

Kim Bayley said, “The success of the entertainment business is a testament to the power of innovation, creating new ways for people to enjoy the music, video and games they love.”

While the Yearbook tracks the continuing growth in digital, two physical formats showed notable growth:

Boxed software for consoles like the new Nintendo Switch and Playstation 4 which generated their first growth in 10 years – up 5% to £750m;

Vinyl albums which continued their long-term revival with sales up 34% to reach £87.7m.

Said Kim Bayley, “Digital services may be grabbing the headlines, but physical retailers continue to identify new opportunities to showcase and drive sales of discs. Vinyl is a prime example of retailers nurturing demand for a product most people had long written off. It would be foolish to underestimate the consumers continuing affection for physical product.”

* * *

The ERA Yearbook also includes the 2017 ERA Entertainment Chart, combining data on both digital and physical sales of music, video and games.

It reveals that Ed Sheeran’s album Divide was the best-selling music, video or games title in the UK in 2017, achieving sales of 2,702,839 albums.

In 2017 33 music, video or games titles sold over half a million units. Of these, 10 sold over 1m units and three over 2m. Of the Top 40 biggest sellers, seven were music albums, 10 were videogames and 23 were videos, led by a trio of titles from Walt Disney Studios – Beauty & The Beast, Rogue One – A Star Wars Story and Moana.

ERA CEO Kim Bayley said, “We all knew that Divide was huge, but now we can see it was more than twice as big as Moana and more than three times the success of Trolls. Many congratulations to Ed and all the people who helped make it such a success.”

ERA Entertainment Chart 2017 Position Category Title Artist Company Units sold 1 Albums Divide Ed Sheeran Warner Music 2,702,839 2 Videogames FIFA 18 Electronic Arts 2,696,721 3 Videogames Call Of Duty: WWII Activision Blizzard 2,442,416 4 Video Beauty And The Beast (2017) Walt Disney Studios 1,484,565 5 Video Rogue One - A Star Wars Story Walt Disney Studios 1,380,402 6 Video Moana Walt Disney Studios 1,293,787 7 Video Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them Walt Disney Studios 1,279,850 8 Videogames Grand Theft Auto V Take 2 1,080,022 9 Video Bridget Jones's Baby Universal Pictures 1,052,753 10 Albums Human Rag'n'Bone Man Sony Music 1,001,913 11 Video Guardians Of The Galaxy - Vol 2 Walt Disney Studios 873,825 12 Video Trolls 20th Century Fox HE 872,586 13 Video Sing Universal Pictures 805,342 14 Video Dunkirk Warner Home Video 753,429 15 Videogames Assassin's Creed Origins Ubisoft 679,965 16 Videogames Destiny 2 Activision Blizzard 673,551 17 Videogames Star Wars Battlefront II Electronic Arts 658,814 18 Videogames Crash Bandicoot N.Sane Trilogy Activision Blizzard 651,354 19 Video Despicable Me 3 Universal Pictures 631,748 20 Video Logan 20th Century Fox HE 614,631 21 Video Doctor Strange Walt Disney Studios 612,745 22 Albums Now That's What I Call Music 96 Various Artists Sony Music/Universal Music 601,906 23 Albums Now That's What I Call Music 97 Various Artists Sony Music/Universal Music 595,547 24 Video Wonder Woman Warner Home Video 591,316 25 Videogames Tom Clancey's Ghost Recon: Wildlands UBISOFT 574,889 26 Albums Now That's What I Call Music 96 Various Artists Sony Music/Universal Music 560,286 27 Video Spider-Man - Homecoming Sony Pictures 551,227 28 Video Pirates Of The Caribbean - Salazars Walt Disney Studios 538,735 29 Video The Girl On The Train 20th Century Fox HE 525,996 30 Video La La Land Elevation Sales 525,342 31 Albums The Thrill Of It All Sam Smith Universal Music 501,952 32 Video The Boss Baby 20th Century Fox HE 501,453 33 Video Fast & Furious 8 Universal Pictures 500,617 34 Video The Lego Batman Movie Warner Home Video 494,446 35 Videogames Gran Turismo: Sport Sony Computer Ent. 484,933 36 Albums Glory Days Little Mix Sony Music 468,173 37 Video Fifty Shades Darker Universal Pictures 466,119 38 Video Hacksaw Ridge Elevation Sales 465,138 39 Videogames Horizon Zero Dawn Sony Computer Ent. 456,374 40 Video War For The Planet Of The Apes 20th Century Fox HE 435,440 Music: Official Charts Company - Includes all physical formats, digital download albums and album equivalent streams Music Video: Official Charts Company - Includes all physical formats, electronic sell-through (film titles only) Video Games: GFK - physical formats / ISFE GSD - digital downloads Games

ENDS

ERA CEO Kim Bayley is available for interview.

For more information please contact Steve Redmond steve@eraltd.org (07770 924720)

About ERA

ERA is the trade association representing the vast majority of retailers and digital services offering music, video and games. Its members range from independent record shops (Reflex, Sister Ray) to digital services (Spotify, Google, Sky, Deezer, 7digital) to internet retailers (Amazon) to specialist High Street operators (HMV, Game) and supermarkets (Tesco, Sainsburys, Asda, Morrisons)

ERA members supply the sales data which powers the Official Charts Company (music and video charts) and GfK Chart-Track (videogames). Together with record companies trade association the BPI, it owns the Official Charts Company.

ERA provides the organisational force behind Record Store Day, the annual celebration of independent record stores which has become the most successful new music industry promotion of the past two decades.

ERA works closely with its sister organisations in music, video and games and is a strong proponent of open markets, open standards and consumer choice.