The UK music industry has undergone a huge transformation in recent years.

After years of stability, the arrival of the internet spawned a generation of illegal music download sites, which threatened the very monopoly that had lined the pockets of industry moguls for decades.

For many years, the amount of revenue generated from UK music sales had been falling fast.

However, a £1bn plus year for the UK recorded music business in 2013 and again in 2014, indicates there’s still money to be made from music sales, despite the fact the industry has largely adapted itself to a digital future.

The turnaround is partly due to the popularity of the innovation of streaming services, such as Spotify and Xbox Music, which allows users to download their favourite tunes for a modest monthly fee.

These services are fighting illegal downloads with innovation of service.

Music fans can share playlists socially, discover new artists through usable platforms and listen without the requirement of an internet connection.

Streaming is growing rapidly and accounted for ten per cent of all UK music sales in 2013, 40 per cent ahead of 2012.

This growth is attracting competition in the market place as corporate giants look to gain a piece of this potentially lucrative pie.

For example, Google is in the process of launching its steaming service, Music Key, through its YouTube network, and Apple is widely expected to be developing a service following its $2.6bn acquisition of Beats.

However, many continue to question whether streaming is the future of the music industry.

Some argue streaming is not effectively monetising its consumer base.

The US-only streaming service Pandora claims 250 million users, yet it has only 3.3 million fee-paying subscribers at $5 a month.

Corporate results offer even less in terms of support for this particular business model.

Pandora has not reported an annual profit since its floatation in 2011.

A number of popular musicians have also turned their back on streaming altogether.

Last November, Taylor Swift removed her latest album and back catalogue from Spotify, while the likes of Beyoncé and Brit Award Winner, Ed Sheeran, have offered CDs and digital downloads first, before placing them on streaming services.

But one of the biggest surprises for music sales in 2014 came from vinyl’s renewed popularity.

Lured by the attraction of hidden tracks, limited edition artwork and a sense of nostalgia, has seen vinyl sales reach a new highpoint.

In 2014, sales reached the one million mark, the first time that milestone has been passed since Oasis reined the charts in 1996.

While the Arctic Monkeys, Royal Blood and Jack White, are among the top-selling contemporary music acts leading the way in the vinyl stakes, older buyers are also being lured back to record shops by so-called heritage acts such as David Bowie, Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin.

Even One Direction are getting in on the act, releasing their recent Four collection in the format.

What has prompted this vinyl revival is anyone’s guess.

Perhaps what matters most is that major labels and artists are now willing to sit up and listen to music fans continuing fascination with the album, in whatever format.

Indeed, the popularity of streaming and vinyl is offering hope that we have entered a best-of-all-worlds era where there is space for music to be discovered and enjoyed in every which way, including on plastic, for many more years to come.

Thomas Smith is an investment manager at Brewin Dolphin. The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily the views held throughout Brewin Dolphin. No director, representative or employee of Brewin Dolphin accepts liability for any direct or consequential loss arising from the use of this document or its contents. Any tax allowances or thresholds mentioned are based on personal circumstances and current legislation which is subject to change.