LOS ANGELES-Until today, we thought Drake’s Views was the best-selling album of 2016, but new music industry figures suggest otherwise.
According to the IFPI’s annual report, both Beyonce’s Lemonade and Adele’s 25 shifted more copies worldwide.
Beyonce topped the chart with 2.4 million sales, while Drake came third, having sold 2.1 million units.
The figures only include CDs, vinyl and downloads - which may explain Drake’s sudden change in fortunes.
Once streaming is counted, he emerges as the most popular artist of 2016; with his inescapable single One Dance the year’s most popular song.
The explosion in streaming services also helped the music industry grow in value for the second year in a row, with revenue up by 5.9pc to $15.7bn (£12.35bn). That’s the fastest rate of growth since the IFPI began tracking the market in 1997; and comes after 15 years of downturn, during which time the music industry lost nearly 40% of its revenue. “We are no longer running up a down escalator,” observed Warner Music CEO Stu Bergen.
Subscription streaming services are largely responsible for the turnaround. Revenue from Spotify, Apple Music and their competitors rose by 60% last year.
By contrast, earnings from CDs and vinyl fell by 7.6%; while the value of downloads - once seen as the saviour of the industry - plummeted by 20.5%.
The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) launched their annual report at a low-key reception in London on Tuesday morning, soundtracked by a lounge pianist covering John Legend’s All of Me and Coldplay’s Trouble. All three of the major record labels - Universal, Sony and Warner Music - attended the event; giving their perspective on the figures.
By the end of 2016, the number of people subscribing to a subscription service reached 97 million worldwide. With many of the users choosing a “family plan”, where several members of the same household have access to the full catalogue of music, the IFPI estimates that 112 million people use a service like Deezer, Spotify, Tidal or Apple Music.
However, the industry is wary of being complacent. “To raise the mission accomplished banner would be the worst mistake we could make,” said Universal Music’s Michael Nash. “We’ve got to continue to convince consumers that [music] is still worth paying for, if we’re ultimately going to achieve sustainable growth,” added Dennis Kooker, president of digital services at Sony.
Streaming might dominate the market in the UK and US - but three of the world’s six biggest music markets, Germany, France and Japan, still prefer CDs. “In this environment, breaking an artist and building a global fanbase isn’t easy,” noted Warner Music’s Stu Bergen. “If you’re going to be successful, you can’t focus on a single format. It takes time, money and people.” For the last 15 years, the music industry has been in a constant state of panic - Napster gutted the music market, then downloads began to overtake CD sales, before themselves being replaced by streaming.