Downloads Officially Outsell Vinyl for First Time

Legal music downloads have outsold vinyl and DVD singles for the first time last month according to the OCC (Official Charts Company).

Over 150,000 download sales were registered for January, including 50,000 in the week of 19th January when MyCokeMusic.com launched. CD sales will still need a lot more downloads to top from the format of choice with 341,461 units sold on the same week.

The OCC began compiling legal music download figures in October 2003, with a view to developing a separate download chart. It said download sales had risen each month since October, but the January 2004 figures were the first to have been published. The OCC also intends to integrate downloads into its Official Singles Chart later this year.

New British artists and falling retail prices have helped the UK buck the worldwide decline in recorded music sales, the rise in sales resulted in a UK record industry revenue of £1,112m last year, an increase of 2.1% on 2002.

Between 1998 and 2002, the last full year for which data was available, worldwide sales of recorded music fell by 18%. Over the same period the value of sales in the UK rose by 6%.

However sale of the DJs format of choice vinyl remain strong, but exact figures remain vague due to smaller independent retailers who may not regularly submit number of sales to the OCC! Long live vinyl.
Tags