The value of the UK music, video and games markets increased for the eleventh successive year in 2023, rising 7% to another all-time record of £11.9 billion, according to preliminary figures released by digital entertainment and retail association ERA. This means the entertainment market has grown by just over 50% since the last pre-pandemic year of 2019, led by video (+88.3%), music (+38.8%) and games (+29.2%).
The main driver of growth in 2023 was streaming and digital services, which increased revenues by more than £800 million in a year and now account for 91.7% of total revenue. Meanwhile, the fastest growing sector in 2023 was video (up 10% to £4.91 million), followed by music (up 9.6% to £2.22 million), and games (up 2.9% to £4.73 million).
Driven by subscription services such as Netflix, Prime Video and Apple TV+, video recaptured its historic position as entertainment’s largest sector, ending a ten-year run of dominance by games. Meanwhile, thanks to streaming services from Spotify, Amazon, YouTube and Apple, music revenues were their highest since 2002 – and just 0.08% below music’s all time high of 2001. Lastly, games sales grew by a modest 2.9% in 2023 to £4.73 million but have now doubled in value over the past decade.
“The entertainment business is defying gravity, delivering eleven straight years of growth regardless of wider economic conditions. Due credit should go to the amazing creative talent behind the movies, music and games we all love, but we should also recognize the huge contribution of the digital services and retailers who have reinvented the entertainment experience for consumers over the past 15 years. The overwhelming majority of the money raised by digital services and retailers goes direct to the content owners, and their success is directly benefitting creators,” said Ben Drury, Chairman of ERA.
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