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Vinyl makes more revenue for the British music industry than YouTube

Wax brought in £57.1million last year... 

Vinyl makes more revenue for the British music industry than YouTube, according to a new report by the Entertainment Retailer's Association (ERA). 

Income from the streaming platform and other video sites such as Facebook did rise in 2018, but only offered £29.7million despite YouTube alone accounting for a staggering 30billion plays in the year. 

In contrast, vinyl sales grew by 3.7%, bringing in £57.1million— 6.6% of overall retail revenue. Figures from the British Phonographic Industry had already shown there were five times more purchases of wax in 2018 than 2013.

In comparison, the number of CD units sold fell by more than 28%, with downloads also dropping by over 27%. 

Paid subscription streams accounted for the greatest share of revenue for British labels, claiming 54%, or £468million. Ad-funded alternatives brought in just £19million. 

According to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), streaming accounted for 75% of music retail revenue in the US in 2018, news that followed the announcement Spotify made its first ever quarterly profit in the same year.