Nostalgia drives another banner year in UK music, fueled by the Oasis reunion and explosive vinyl sales from pop heavyweights.
The British music scene is celebrating another year of growth, with recent figures indicating that listeners consumed the equivalent of 210.3 million albums by UK artists in 2025. This represents a 4.9% increase over 2024 and marks the eleventh consecutive year of expansion, according to the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) annual report. The revival of physical music formats, particularly vinyl, has played a significant role in this ongoing success.
The nostalgia stirred by the Oasis reunion tour, alongside the fervent demand for vinyl from Taylor Swift’s fanbase, has solidified the momentum in album sales. The BPI utilizes a metric known as “album equivalent sales” to assess the performance of the UK music industry, enabling comparisons between streaming and traditional sales. This year, physical formats have shown remarkable growth, reversing a two-decade decline and indicating a renewed interest among music consumers.
Vinyl sales, while still a modest segment of the overall consumption – accounting for 7.6 million albums compared to 189 million in streaming – grew by 13.3%, marking the eighteenth consecutive year of growth in this category. In stark contrast, streaming saw a more modest increase of 5.5%. Taylor Swift’s album, *The Life of a Showgirl*, not only topped the vinyl sales charts with 147,000 units sold but also set a record for the highest vinyl sales since the Official Charts Company began tracking in the 1990s.
Despite some excitement over a perceived resurgence in CD sales among younger listeners, the format actually saw a decline of 7.6% to 9.7 million. This suggests that while there may be a temporary retro trend, CDs are likely losing their footing in the market. In an interesting twist, cassette tapes are witnessing growth, with sales in this category skyrocketing by nearly 80%, though they still made up a small fraction with just 330,000 sold.
Oasis and Coldplay’s recent sellout tours have positively impacted their album rankings, with Oasis’s compilation album, *Time Flies … 1994-2009*, returning to the No. 1 spot after the tour’s launch and finishing the year in fourth place. Other top sellers included Sabrina Carpenter’s *Short n’ Sweet* and Ed Sheeran’s *+=-÷x (Tour Collection)*. Fleetwood Mac also made notable appearances on the chart, with their classic album *Rumours* remaining popular among vinyl collectors.
The BPI’s report also highlighted emerging talent in the industry, with artists like Olivia Dean, Lola Young, Sleep Token, PinkPantheress, and Sam Fender gaining attention among listeners. Jo Twist, CEO of the BPI, emphasized the need for government support to safeguard the music industry, advocating for the preservation of copyright laws and a favorable business environment for labels to nurture future stars.
Twist stated, “These figures should serve as a powerful reminder that British music is a global headline act, one of the crown jewels of the UK’s creative industries.” As the industry looks forward to 2026, policymakers are urged to prioritize the ongoing success of this vital sector.
