HARD-PRESSED CONSUMERS TWICE AS LIKELY TO CUT BACK ON FOOD AS ENTERTAINMENT
Luminate Senior Research Analyst Saskia Allan revealed new data outlining that while 50% of people say they would economise on eating out and takeaways due to the cost of living crisis, only 27% say they would cut down on entertainment subscriptions and just 25% said they would cut down on purchases of CDs, DVDs, books, magazines and games.
Consumers faced by the cost of living crisis are twice as like to cut back on food as entertainment, according to research presented to the annual conference of digital entertainment and retail association ERA.
The study is based on a 2,000-strong representative sample of UK consumers undertaken by research specialists Luminate Data.
Luminate Senior Research Analyst Saskia Allan revealed new data outlining that while 50% of people say they would economise on eating out and takeaways due to the cost of living crisis, only 27% say they would cut down on entertainment subscriptions and just 25% said they would cut down on purchases of CDs, DVDs, books, magazines and games.
ERA CEO Kim Bayley said, “These are extraordinary numbers. They show that entertainment is prized extremely highly by UK consumers and demonstrates the incredible work done by streaming services and entertainment retailers alike in inspiring music, video and games fans. These numbers bode well for the industry as the cost-of-living crisis continues to bite.”
Combined sales of music, video and games in the UK reached £11.1bn in 2022, up 40% over the past five years.
ERA’s Annual Conference was attended by 100 ERA members and representatives of the music, video and games sectors.
FOUR OTHER THINGS WE LEARNED FROM THE ERA CONFERENCE
- The music industry’s view of AI is improving
AI expert and former Sony Music executive Gareth Deakin reported that there has been a distinct thawing in music industry attitudes to AI since he first championed the technology back in 2017. “Back then I had to escape out of the side-entrance because people wanted to beat me with big sticks,” he joked. “The industry wasn’t ready. Where we are right now is interesting and positive. Things are moving forwards. What is most interesting is that even then we were able to create from a musical fidelity perspective incredible-sounding instrumental music. But the moment you clone a voice of someone singing, the entire industry explodes which tells you something about how the industry values creativity and music content.” - The next frontier in streaming is “Android fracking”
Economist Will Page pointed out that with a clear majority of existing music streaming subscribers using IOS devices, future growth will need to come from Android users. “The first 25m streaming subscribers are on Apple IOS devices. That means the next 25m are going to have to come from Android and that isn’t going to be easy and it's not going to be cheap. That will affect subscriber acquisition costs and lifetime value.” - ERA has its first Scottish independent board member in its 35 year history
The ERA Conference heard results of elections to the ERA board. These included news that Assai Records, represented by owner Keith Ingram and with stores in Dundee, Edinburgh and Glasgow has become the first independent board member from Scotland to be elected in the organisation’s 35 year history. Also newly elected was digital pressings specialist
Serenade, who will be represented by Mike Walsh.
Re-elected members included Asda (represented by Ryan Longstaff), GAME (Nick Arran), Proper Distribution (Drew Hill), Soundcloud (Sina Ministy), YouTube (Dan Chalmers) and Virgin (Richard Vivian).
- UK streaming services and retailers have agreed a new vision for the future of the business
ERA Chair Ben Drury unveiled the new document which has been agreed over the past six months by companies ranging from Spotify, Amazon, YouTube, HMV and GAME to independent record shops. It argues that the key to further growth lies in technology coupled with the passion for entertainment which characterises the sector. It can be downloaded here.