Sales of albums in the UK continued to decline last year according to new figures released by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI).
The latest results show a 10% drop in album sales during the past twelve months in comparison to 2011, when figures also reduced year-on-year despite the runaway success of Adele‘s ‘21‘.
Sales on the CD format have also shrunk to the tune of 20%, though sixteen LPs did shift over 100,000 copies during the last year, with Emeli Sande‘s ‘Our Version Of Events‘ proving to be 2012’s most popular record..
Conversely, and thanks largely to the ongoing boom in the digital market, singles sales rose once again, with a massive 99.6% of the 188.6m singles sold in the UK last year coming on the digital format.
“2012 was an encouraging year for UK artists and for music’s digital future,” BPI Chief Executive Geoff Taylor has told Music Week. “Digital albums grew strongly and singles sales hit a new record. Music fans are now streaming billions of songs from new services enabled by record labels.”
“The Jubilee celebrations and the London 2012 Olympics provided a great showcase for British music internationally, but market conditions at home remained difficult and pressure on the ‘leisure wallet’ impacted music sales on the high street.”