British Music Fans Buy Half-A-Billion Music Downloads

British music fans have pushed the digital revolution to new heights, with the number of downloads bought in the UK passing the half-a-billion mark for the very first time – the Official Charts Company can confirm today.

The 500millionth download was bought last month, since the birth of legitimate music downloading in the first half of 2004, following steady growth over the past six years.

The total equates to**:
* eight tracks for each member of the UK population
* two albums for every UK household
* 42,000 60gb MP3 players

After passing the landmark, music downloads are set to hit another all-time high this year, after five years of continuing and sustained growth. By the end of August, more than 100m downloads had already been bought this year in the UK. If sales continue to grow at the current rate, the number of downloads for the full year should reach 170m.

Booming sales of downloads mean singles sales are now at an all-time high. Before the arrival of the digital download, the number of singles sold in a calendar year had never previously passed 90m units.

Official Charts Company managing director Martin Talbot says, “The surpassing of this latest landmark highlights just how enthusiastically music consumers have taken to legitimate music download services in the UK. Sales are continuing to grow too, thanks to the popularity of artists such as Owl City, Eminem, Usher, Katy Perry and Rihanna.”

BPI Chief Executive Geoff Taylor says, “This milestone underlines how artists, labels and retailers in the UK have worked together to make Britain one of the world’s most vibrant digital music markets. There are nearly 70 legal music services, more than any other country, and consumers continue to embrace the choice, value and innovation on offer. 500 million downloads is an astonishing achievement especially given the ongoing backdrop of widespread illegal downloading the music industry still faces.”

The biggest selling single of 2010 so far is Owl City’s Fireflies which has sold more than 600,000 copies to date, one of four platinum singles so far this year. Since the beginning of digital sales, the biggest selling download is Black-Eyed Peas’ I Gotta Feeling, which became the first download to sell a million copies back in June this year.

Downloads year-by-year:
2004 5.77m
2005 26.44m
2006 53.10m
2007 77.96m
2008 110.27m
2009 149.65m
2010* 102.30m

Source: MI2N