CDs shine as UK music sales in 2023 jump to near record figure

Taylor Swift dominates album market, while best-performing track is Miley Cyrus’s Flowers

Sales of CDs rose last year for the first time in two decades, helping to lift the UK’s total spending on music to the highest level since the days when Destiny’s Child, Limp Bizkit and David Gray were topping the album charts.

The value of all music sales – including spending on streaming, vinyl, CDs and downloads – rose 9.6% in 2023 to reach £2.2bn, just 0.08% shy of the record 22 years earlier, according to the Digital Entertainment and Retail Association (ERA).