Music Market Data for 2006

IFPI has released its music market data for 2006. Digital track sales continue its upward climb while digital album sales doubled from 2005.





UK artists’ sales hit 10 year high

• UK acts claimed a 61.9% share of best selling albums in 2006
• Domestic UK albums market top 150m sales for the 4th year running, representing the most successful year for British talent for at least a decade
• Snow Patrol top end of year chart (1.5m units)
• 14 UK debut albums reach top 100
• Digital accounted for 79% of singles sales
• The digital albums market saw 2.2m units sold between April and December 2006; digital sales now comprise 1.4% of the overall album market
• Overall album sales decline of 2.5% to 155.1m units
• Singles market grew by 39.7% fuelled by growth in downloads

Source: BPI. Figures are sales registered ‘over the counter’, through retail outlets in the UK, recorded by The Official UK Charts Company.

Japan – Digital sales figures
Physical sales down 10% in volume and 4% in value. Audio volume down 4% units and 4% value. Music video volume up 14% volume and 3% value.


Germany – Internet is the future
• Download sales rise by 40%
• Downloads and mobile combined make up 5% of sales
• Internet is second most important distribution channel for CD sales

Download sales in 2006 rose by 40% to €42m and sales of CDs over the internet are becoming ever more important. With a 17.9% share (16.8% in 2005) of sales, the web is now the second most important distribution channel after electrical stores with 30% (30.8% in 2005).

Since the download market has not yet been able to compensate for the decrease in sales of traditional sound carriers, record sales overall decreased slightly compared with the previous year by 2.4% to €1.706 billion.

Source: IFPI Germany

France – Key market figures 2006
• Market down 10.7% in value to €862m. Physical sales -12.4% (€819m) and digital sales +42% (€43m)
• Repertoire: +13% classical, -12% local, -18% international
• Physical formats: -24% singles, -8.6% albums, -31% music video
• Digital sales split: online 39% and mobile 61%

Source: SNEP

Canada – sales down 4.7% in 2006
The overall Canadian album sales experienced a 4.7% drop in 2006 according to Nielsen SoundScan data. Album sales totalled 46.2m units in 2006, down from 48.5m in 2005. Digital tracks more than doubled to 14.9m units (+122%). Digital album sales reached 1.03m units, also an increase of 122%.

In terms of genre, classical and country grew 20.6% and 15.4% respectively. The largest genre, alternative, dropped 16.8%.

Source: Nielsen SoundScan

Spain – 2006 sales figures
Spanish music sales fell in retail value in 2006 by 15.3% to €345m (US$445m). Source: Promusicae


Belgium – Download sales double and local repertoire up 20% in 2006
Belgium digital download revenues rose 90% year on year to €4.1m (US$5.2m), as close to six million files were purchased. The digital music business now accounts for 4.5% of total music purchases in Belgium. Domestic productions accounted for 15% of overall album sales.

Source: IFPI Belgium

Sweden - Key market figures 2006
• Market down 5.5% in value to SKR 941.5m (US$134.4m)
• Physical formats value: singles
-26.7%, albums -9.7%, DVDs +6.7%
• Digital sales up 193% in value to SKR 61.9m (US$9.8m)
• Domestic repertoire accounted for 41% of total album sales
http://www.ifpi.se/statistics.aspx
Source: IFPI Sweden

Austria – CD sales flat
• Market up 5% in units but down 6% in value
• Music DVDs rose 8% in units and 4.5% in value
• There was no change in the number of CD albums sold 2005-06
• Digital sales up 50% (market split 34% online, 66% mobile)

Source: IFPI Austria

Denmark – Digital market doubles
Trade revenues from Danish music sales have halved since 2000. For the first time in five years, however, 2006 saw a modest growth in revenues due to an estimated 100% increase in digital sales and an almost flat physical market. Digital sales increased to DEK 30.6m (US$5.1m) and physical sales fell slightly to DEK 612.4m (US$102.9).

Local releases continue to play an important role in the Danish market, with 46.9% of physical sales attributed to local artists, an increase of 2% compared to 2005. The power of local releases is also reflected in the fact that independent labels are estimated to account for almost a third of the overall recorded music market.

Source: IFPI Denmark