Physical music sales decline slows, helped by Ed Sheeran

The category received a boost from the release of Ed Sheeran’s CD, Divide, according to Kantar Worldpanel figures covering the 12 weeks to July 2.

The performance of physical music was in contrast to that of video and games, which were down 13% and 20% respectively, as sales across the market overall fell 12.1% year on year.

HMV’s market share rose 0.8 percentage points as it successfully converted browsing shoppers. 29% of spending in HMV was by those who entered a store to browse, up from 20% last year, according to Kantar Worldpanel.

Steaming service users increase

Digital sales continued to climb and 13% of the UK population now pays for a streaming service – up from 9% this time last year.

Amazon remained the biggest entertainment retailer. Fewer gaming releases hit Game, whose market share fell 2.5 percentage points year on year.

Moore said: “Gaming titles accounted for only two of the top 10 titles across physical entertainment during the past three months – down from five last year – thanks to a quieter release slate during the latest quarter.

“Shoppers are also buying games less often, playing top titles for longer before making a new purchase – great for customers’ wallets, but a challenge for gaming retailers.”