2013 gets off to a flying start with sales of music up 11.6%

Sales of singles and albums, both physical and digital, are at a three year high, up by an average of 11.6% in the first four weeks of 2013, compared to the same period last year.

According to a new report published by the Entertainment Retailers Association based on Official Charts Company sales data, sales of music have been higher in each of the first four weeks of 2013 than in the corresponding weeks of 2012.

The result is that year-to-date sales are up 11.6% on the same period last year, which is the best start to the year for three years. The positive sales figures follow a tough 2012 during which music sales fell 5.5% compared with the previous year.

“This is an extremely positive result and a great start to the year,” comments ERA Director General Kim Bayley. “It certainly demonstrates that there is far more robust demand for music than is often assumed.”

2013’s biggest selling single so far is Will.I.Am FT Britney Spears’ Scream And Shout, which has sold 234,000 copies year to date (513,000 since its release in December 2012), while the Motion Picture Cast Recording of Les Miserables is 2013’s biggest selling artist album to date with a current tally of 118,000 copies. The latest instalment of the hugely popular Now series, Now That’s What I Call Music 83, is 2013’s biggest selling compilation album so far, with sales of 94,000 year to date (1.4 million overall).

WEEKLY MUSIC SALES BY VALUE, 2013 VS 2012

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