Half of UK Music Industry Income Now Comes From Online Downloads and Streaming | What are Ghanaian Musicians Doing?

Globally, online music downloads and streaming have become the new income source for musicians and nations and yet it seems Ghana is lacking behind.

Without proper Ghanaian online platforms and structures, our music industry will continue slack behind and not be able to cash in on the online music sales boom.

For the first time, it has been published that digital music now accounts for half of the high income the UK is generating from music…

My question is; when will Ghana and Ghanaian musicians also take hold on the new online musical sales boom to start ripping in some real cash?

According to MailOnline;

The rise of downloads and streaming means that digital music now accounts for half of record industry income in the UK for the first time, according to new figures.

Digital revenue increased by 11.9 per cent last year on the back of strong album downloads, with streaming income also rising by 41 per cent, a report by music industry body the BPI has found.

Despite the positive digital figures, revenue from sales of CDs and music videos continued to decline – dropping by 6.4 per cent in 2013 to stand at £365.4million.

The digital sales mean the UK music industry saw an overall 1.9 per cent increase in its income – the first growth in four years – taking it to £730.4 million last year, up from £716.8 million in 2012.

Hit albums such as Bastille’s debut Bad Blood – the biggest selling digital artist album of 2013 – helped the income from download albums to grow by 19.5 per cent.

The trend for luxury digital packages also contributed to the boost, although sales of download singles slipped by 4.4 per cent.

But the rise of streaming services such as Spotify and Deezer offset any drop and represented the fastest growing area, with revenues growing by 41 per cent and generating £77million.

The figures take account only of the record industry income from digital and physical music and do not include VAT and the additional costs of retail.

BPI chief executive Geoff Taylor said: ‘With digital increasingly becoming its key source of revenue, Britain’s music industry is fit and ready to seize the global opportunities it offers.’

Tony Wadsworth, the BPI chairman, said: ‘After over a decade of digital transformation we are now seeing the transition of the recorded music business reach a significant milestone and a return to revenue growth.’

‘This was only ever going to happen if we give the consumer what they want , and the continual support given by artists and labels to new ways of enjoying music means that music fans can enjoy more choice and better value than at any time in history.’