Album sales down but downloads on the up

Many broadband users these days prefer to get their music by downloading it online, and recent figures have shown that the popularity of music downloads is now being reflected in sales figures.

There was a time when anyone that wanted an album or single had to head down to Woolworths, WH Smith, or some specialist music retailer in order to get their hands on the music of their choice. However, over recent years this has all changed, and it seems that in the future buying records at a bricks and mortar store could go the same way as the bricks and mortar stores – such as Woolworths – themselves.

Figures were recently released showing that album sales dropped over the course of 2009 by around three and a half percent, marking the fifth consecutive year that they have fallen. However, at the same time figures also showed that there had been over a fifty six percent increase in album downloads, showing that many people are now using their broadband services to get the music that they want online.

There was also a record number of singles sold in the last week of 2009, and this included both CDs and download, with sales figures reaching an all time high. Officials believe that this is partly down to the number of people that may have received MP3 players for Christmas, and therefore spent the last week of the year getting the music that they wanted for their new device online.

An official from the BPI said: “Despite difficult trading conditions and the ever-present competition from illegal downloading, UK music sales remained relatively resilient during 2009. While sales of physical CDs continue to trend downwards, music fans are clearly responding to the explosive growth of digital retailers and outlets selling and streaming music in the UK. 2009′s record singles result is clearly encouraging.”

Source – BBC