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Business News Retail
More shops are selling music than ever before, says ERA
By CMU Editorial | Published on Tuesday 24 February 2015
The number of physical stores selling music reached an all-time high in 2014, which is a nice counter-intuitive stat if ever I heard one. And it’s one of the figures in the Entertainment Retailers Association’s new yearbook, published alongside the aforementioned manifesto earlier today.
According to ERA, the number of outlets selling physical music products increased 20.4% over 2014 to reach 10,391. The number of DVD and game sellers also increased, despite recent years being dominated by the collapse of some key entertainment retailers, most recently HMV.
That the post-administration HMV kept more stores open than many expected, plus slightly more stable times in the indie retail sector, have helped with that figure, though the rise is chiefly due to the increased number of non-specialists stocking music products, where you won’t necessarily find much range, but the opportunities for all-important impulse buy purchases are high.
The increase in the number of high street retailers selling music also comes, of course, as the number of digital entertainment providers has grown, with ERA reckoning there are now about 123 such services in the UK, 76 of them music-based.
Commenting on these stats, ERA boss Kim Bayley told reporters: “This is an extraordinary result which means that UK consumers have a greater choice of outlets from which to buy music, video and games than ever before. From specialist chains and independents, through to supermarkets and fashion stores, to internet retailers, download and streaming services we can all now access music, video and games wherever or whenever we want”.
Some other standout figures in ERA’s annual stats fest include:
• Bricks and morter stores accounted for 33.9% of entertainment transactions last year, the other 66.1% taking place via online services (mail-order and digital).
• Overall the entertainment retail market is 49.9% digital, with video tipping the balance in physical’s favour. 2015 is likely to be the year that the wider market moves to be majority digital.
• Entertainment retail grew by 2.3% in value in 2014, with the biggest increase being in digital gaming, which was up 18.8%. Streaming music and film, and good old vinyl, also saw revenue increases last year, of course.
