2009 was an encouraging year for songwriters, composers and music publishers in the UK as they received 623 million pounds in royalty fees. This shows a growth of 2.6 % compared to the previous year and marked the first time ever, where digital revenues overtook the drop in CD and DVD revenue. The overall boost for the British market is attributed to the increase in popularity of British music overseas which grew to almost 20 % in 2009.
The figures were compiled by PRS for Music, a group that collects royalty fees for over 65,000 of its members. However, the group pointed out that it was too early to speculate whether this marked a turning point in music industry. They said that it was the first time that digital downloads had covered the drop in sales experienced by traditional media and therefore they were not willing to confirm the switch in the trend. The drop in sales of CDs and DVDs is generally attributed to worldwide music piracy and to the emergence of digital media, as the preferred format of choice.
PRS were quite optimistic that the digital market would grow in the next decade. This is the expected trend as online services move more towards subscription packages that allow users to download music in packages and formats chosen by them. The growth experienced in the last year is encouraging, but it still is a small figure when you consider the whole market. The future of this method of music distribution solely rests on the types of DRM that are rolled out in the years to come.