[web] Variety Headline News

U.K. music sales beat expectations

Album sales drop 3.2%

By GORDON MASSON

LONDON — A strong release schedule and the growth of digital sales helped U.K. record labels exceed market expectations last year, according to trade body the BPI.

Overall, the British industry saw sales of 133.6 million albums — a volume decline of 3.2% compared with 2007 — 138.1 million — but that was far better than many analysts predicted, with some forecasting a slide of more than 10%.

Indeed, the BPI end-of-year figures state that the digital albums market grew strongly during 2008, with 10 million sales representing a 65% increase compared with 2007. The digital format accounts for 7.7% of the U.K. albums market.

The news was even better in the singles market, with 2008 being the biggest sales year on record in unit terms. That was driven mostly by download sales and overall more than 115 million singles were sold across all formats — a 33% increase on 2007’s 86.6 million tracks.

BPI chief executive Geoff Taylor said: “Every business and consumer in the U.K. is having a tough time, and these difficult trading conditions make the resilience of the U.K.’s music market all the more notable.

During a recession, people look for purchases that are excellent value for money and bring a lot of enjoyment, and music does just this.

The biggest selling album of the year was Duffy’s “Rockferry,” which sold nearly 1.7 million units, closely followed by Take That’s “The Circus” (1.4 million), Kings of Leon’s “Only by the Night” (1.2 million), Leona Lewis’ “Spirit” (1.1 million) and Coldplay’s
“Viva La Vida” (1 million).

SOURCE:VARIETY.COM