Game sales overtake music sales in the UK

Gamer girl plays Wii

UK’s Entertainment Retailers’ Association (ERA) director general Kim Bayley reports: “Games have overtaken music massively this year [UK sales in 2007] – music revenues are down on last year’s figures and game sales are huge in comparison now In unit terms music is still important, but in value terms a lot less so. Games prices hold up a lot better against music and DVD – it won’t be long until games revenue overtakes DVD. In years to come, games and DVD will vie to become the biggest market. That battle will depend on what products are out and how retailers react.”

Here are the statistics from the last three years:

2005:
Video/DVD: £2,196 million
Music: £1,839 million
Games: £1,345 million
Total: £5,380 million

2006:
Video/DVD: £2,122 million
Music: £1,651 million
Games: £1,361 million
Total: £5,134 million

2007:
Video/DVD: £2,164 million
Games: £1,719 million
Music: £1,417 million
Total: £5,300 million