After five years of struggling growth, digital video sales soared in 2013. According to the year-end figures provided by Entertainment Retail Association, sales grew a healthy 40.2 per cent at £621.4m. The entertainment retail market is comprised of music, video and games. While all three recorded solid numbers last year, physical disc-based sales still ruled the roost at the top, accounting for over half the market with 56 per cent sales.
While the market value of digital video stood at £5.1bn in 2012, it improved to £5.4bn last year on the back of robust growth registered by digital services such as Netflix, Steam and Spotify. The general consensus is that investment in technologies in the entertainment retail sector is giving impressive returns. In particular, the volume of content consumed on Netflix has been unprecedented – it has left cable and broadcast networks in its trail. Away from the sector, the use of digital videos for content marketing has only increased in recent years.
While the exact investment in not known, analysts estimate that retailers have spent hundreds of millions of pounds in new digital services, in answer to the growing demand among the public. Historically, new technologies have posed challenges to the sector, but the latest numbers indicate how video, games and music companies are finding new markets to enhance growth.
Overall, videogame sales in the UK grew by 6.6 per cent, music sales fell slightly by 0.5 per cent and video increased by 3.7 per cent. Videogames emerged as the biggest sector in entertainment, making up 41.4 per cent of the overall entertainment sales. A different BBC News report said that music streaming now accounts for 10% of revenue from recorded music.