Ed Sheeran delivers 2017’s biggest seller so far, ahead of Rogue One and Fantastic Beasts.
Music, video and games sales have leapt 6.4% in the first half of 2017 compared with the same period in 2016, according to new figures from the Entertainment Retailers Association.
Music was the star performer of the three sectors, growing 11.2% during the period. Games increased 8.4%, while video was up 1.2%.
A lot of this success can be attributed to Ed Sheeran, with his Divide album topping the ERA’s Entertainment Chart (combining sales of music, video and games).
Divide notched up sales of 2.065 million units, ahead of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story on 1.18 million and Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them on 1.032 million.
However, overall it was video which dominated the biggest sellers, with seven of the top ten.
There was a particularly strong showing for children’s animation, with Moana, Trolls and Sing all in the top ten.
ERA ceo Kim Bayley said: “Entertainment has now seen over four years of continuous growth thanks to a combination of digital services pioneering new ways of consuming music, video and games, and physical retailers working hard to maximise sales of discs.
“To now deliver another £180m worth of sales in the first half of 2017 is really extraordinary.”
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