Vinyl sales are up, downloads hold steady but downward trends in physical sales continue.

Music streaming via services like Spotify increased by 32% in the US and 34% in the UK in 2013 according to figures out this week. In contrast, the US reported a fall in physical CD sales of around 14% continuing the trend of recent years.

There was better news for music in general as the overall figures suggest an increase in revenue. Sales of music downloads held steady but vinyl bucked the trend continuing to show a resurgence and up a staggering 33% to an all time high since the introduction of the compact disc.

David Bakula from Nielsen Entertainment who provide the industry chart figures in the US was upbeat citing continued growth in overall music consumption. “With the approximate revenue equivalent of 59 million albums purchased, the industry remains vibrant as consumption continues to change and expand,” he said. However, the 172 million CDs and LPs sold in the US represents a drop of 13 per cent as more people turn to streaming for their music.

As always, the figures released are heavily skewed towards rock and pop artists with not even a mention of...