Three In Ten Albums Now Bought Digitally In The UK

Digital now accounts for 28.2% of all UK albums sales, up from 20.1% in the third quarter of 2010, new official market data released today by the BPI revealed
According to the data compiled for the BPI and UK music industry by the Official Charts Company, digital album sales rose 24.2% year-on-year to 6.1m in Q3, 2011, although the digital gain was insufficient to offset a decline in sales of physical CD albums – down 20.5% from 19.6m to 15.6m. Q3 album sales across all the significant formats – CD, digital and vinyl – dropped 11.4% to 21.8m from 24.6m a year ago.

Adele boasts the two best-selling albums of the year to date, the Official Charts Company data reveals, with her 21 and 19 in first and second place ahead of Bruno Mars’ Doo-Wops & Hooligans at No.3. In total, 72.3m albums have been sold in the UK so far in 2011, compared to 76.2m at the same point last year.

The growth of the digital singles market continued with 42.4m sold in the period July – September 2011, up by 13% on 2010’s third-quarter tally of 37.6m. In the nine months of 2011, 130.6m singles have been sold, compared to 117.5m from January to September 2010.

The UK’s biggest-selling single of 2011 so far is Adele’s Someone Like You, followed by Jessie J’s Price Tag and the Party Rock Anthem collaboration between LMFAO, Lauren Bennett and Goonrock in third.

BPI Chief Executive Geoff Taylor said, “While trading conditions are tough on the High Street, the strong pace of growth in the digital music market is extremely encouraging for the future. 2011 is shaping up to be a third record year for singles, which are now almost entirely a digital business. But the real story is how consumers are connecting with the value and instant enjoyment offered by the digital album. A growth rate of almost 25% is an outstanding performance for any sector in these difficult economic times.

“The final quarter of the year is always the biggest for record sales, particularly the Christmas gifting market where the CD remains a key stocking-filler. British music fans have some major releases to look forward to from the likes of Coldplay, Kate Bush, Rizzle Kicks, Jason Derulo, Katherine Jenkins, Snow Patrol, Michael Bublé, Matt Cardle and Katie Melua, hits from REM and the second album by Florence + The Machine – amongst many others. The Now compilation series also remains as popular as ever and the Christmas 2011 edition is expected to be a top seller again.”

Source: BPI