Annual digital album sales already ahead of 2010 total

UK sales of digital albums in 2011 have surpassed 2010’s total with two months to spare.

21.3 million albums have been sold according to Official Charts Company data released by the BPI.
Coldplay’s Mylo Xyloto has become the lastest LP to shift over 100,000 downloads, with more than 40% of its first week sales coming in the digital realmn.

Digital albums represent 26.2% share of total album sales in 2011, up from 17.5% during 2010. This year, the Top 10 biggest digital albums have all sold more than 100,000 digital copies, including albums by Lady Gaga, Jessie J and Ed Sheeran.

Adele’s 21 remains the biggest selling digital album of all time – selling almost twice as many copies as Lady Gaga’s The Fame in second place.

It also sits atop the year-to-date list of digital album sales with almost 670,000 downloads sold in 2011. Her debut 21 has sold 125,000 digital units this year.

BPI Chief Executive, Geoff Taylor, said, “It’s encouraging to see such strong sales in the digital albums market before the Christmas gifting season gets properly underway. For the last five consecutive years, the final week of the year has been the biggest in terms of digital album sales, as consumers spend digital music gift vouchers received at Christmas and try out legal digital music services on their new iPods, tablets and laptops.

“In the last week of 2010, digital album sales topped a record 800,000. This year we may see the 1 million weekly sales barrier broken for the first time, despite the adverse impact of illegal sites and tough economic conditions.

“Music fans have more ways than ever before to buy music and a great selection of exciting new albums to look forward to before the end of the year.”

Source: Music Week