Home entertainment is booming in the UK, with even bigger growth expected across Europe

Home entertainment sales in the UK hit record highs despite the UK’s economic downturn.

According to the annual report of the Digital Entertainment and Retailing Association, total sales of digital media, including music, games and streaming services, will increase by 6.9% in 2022 compared to 2021, to around 12.4 billion euros.

However, sales of physical media declined in every category.

Total music purchases were up 5%, but physical and download sales were down 3.8% and 17.5%, respectively, and streaming sales were up 5%.

For video content, brick-and-mortar retail sales fell 11.5%, while brick-and-mortar rentals also fell 19.4%. Digital sales, meanwhile, rose 16.2%, with an overall increase of 14%.

Gaming rose 2.3 percent, while brick-and-mortar sales fell 6 percent, while online transactions soared 8.4 percent.

Compared with consumption before the epidemic, the public’s desire for home entertainment has greatly increased. Looking at the 2019 numbers, game and music sales both rose by nearly a quarter to 23.9%, while video sales jumped 69.8%.

This follows a trend in home media that started with Coronavirus disease blockade.

“The nearly 40% increase since 2019 is extraordinary,” said ERA Chairman Ben Drury.

“Few would have believed that we would sustain the sharp rebound in revenue as the Covid lockdown kept people at home, but these figures show that people are determined to maintain their entertainment spending even in the midst of a recession.”

What happened in the rest of Europe?

In recent years, with streaming services such as Apple TV, Disney+and home theater max Has been rolled out across the continent.

One area where video streaming is taking off rapidly is Eastern Europe According to Digital TV Research, streaming video-on-demand (SVOD) subscribers are expected to double from 23 million to 43 million by 2027.

64% of this growth will span Poland and Russiaalthough the latter relies heavily on content from emerging services such as Netflix and Disney+ quit after moscow invade ukraine.

According to Conviva’s “State of Streaming” report, SVOD across Europe will grow by 9% overall in the third quarter of 2022, with the report’s growth partly attributed to an increase in smart TV purchases.

Meanwhile, in the world of music streaming spotify music Still king, ahead of similar services offered by Apple, Amazon and Tencent.

Spotify has 456 million users worldwide, 33% of which are in Europe. Meanwhile, 39 percent of the streamer’s 195 million premium subscribers are from the African continent.