Music consumption in the U.K. rose by 2.5% in 2021 with individual audio streams up 5.7%. The rise, although good news, is considerably down from recent years.

According to BPI figures, 159m albums or their equivalent were either streamed or purchased across all formats last year in the U.K. Consumption was primarily made up of streams—147b audio streams, which count for 83% of the total.

CD sales dropped 10.5% last year to 14.4m to count for 9% of the total while vinyl sales rose 10.6% to 5.3m—the highest figure in three decades—or a 3.3% share. Despite an overall 5.5% decline in physical album sales, which count for 12.5% of the consumption total, in the vast majority of weeks (40) in 2021, physical counted for over half of chart-eligible sales for the #1 artist album. Digital download albums dipped 23.1% to 4.6m units sold.

In 2020, consumption was up 8.2% and in 2019, it rose by 7.5%.

The BPI, which has been lobbying against any change in U.K. law that could see artists paid more from streaming, says that the number of artists earning meaningful royalties from streaming is on the up. In 2021, the trade body reports that more than 1.9k artists were streamed more than 10m times in the U.K., up from 1.8k in 2020 and 1.5k in 2019.

BPI Chief Exec Geoff Taylor said: “The rise of streaming has empowered more artists than ever—from all backgrounds and eras—to build new fanbases around the world and to forge successful careers in music, while record labels have continued to provide the investment and support needed for British talent to thrive and reach a truly global audience.”