The LHM team are now back to work after an amazing 2011. There are always some great stats available to us at this time of year, from marketing departments in nearly every sector. As the CD is one of the most popular stocking fillers, we thought we’d take a look at just how the digital formats currently compare vs the CD.
Interestingly, Adele’s album 21 the bigger ever selling album is a single year with 3.8m sales. In excess of 1.0m albums and 5.7m singles were downloaded in the last week of 2011 alone – the biggest week ever for digital sales of both formats as consumers flocked to redeem music vouchers received as Christmas gifts.
A fourth successive record year for singles and growing consumer confidence in digital albums could not offset a further decline in overall UK music sales, new Official Charts Company figures released today by the BPI confirmed.
Combined sales of digital and physical albums fell overall by 5.6% to 113.2m in 2011.
Digital album sales rose 26.6% to 26.6m, while sales of albums on CD declined 12.6% year on-year to 86.2m in total. The CD remains the favoured format for UK album buyers in 2011, accounting for 76.1% of total sales compared to a 23.5% market share for digital and 0.3% for vinyl.
Consumer appetite for digital album downloads has continued to grow, however, with 15 albums selling more than 100,000 digital copies in 2011.
Sales of vinyl LPs rose by well over a third (43.7%) during 2011 to 337,000, their highest tally since 2005.
The UK singles market went from strength to strength in 2011, with sales smashing all-time records for the fourth straight year in succession. Total singles sales increased 10.0% overall to 177.9m in 2011, with the vast majority (99.3%) sold as digital tracks and bundles.
1.1m CD singles were sold in 2011, representing just 0.6% of the total and all of the top 20 best-selling singles of 2011 sold more than 500,000 copies a piece.
Geoff Taylor, BPI Chief Executive, said, “It has been another record year for digital
singles, but the most encouraging news of the year is the strong backing consumers are
giving to the digital album format. British music fans understand that the album remains the richest way to connect with an artist’s work. Digital developments grab the headlines, but the CD remains hugely popular with consumers, accounting for three-quarters of album sales.
Physical ownership is important to many fans and the CD will be a key element of the
market for years to come.
“British artists continue to produce incredible music that resonates at home and around the world. But while other countries take positive steps to protect their creative sector, our Government is taking too long to act on piracy, while weakening copyright to the benefit of US tech giants.
The UK has already fallen behind Germany as a music market. Unless decisive action is taken in 2012, investment in music could fall again – a creative crunch that will destroy jobs and mean the next Adele may not get her chance to shine on the world stage.”
Tags: adele, digital music, Germany, growth, iPad, iPod, iTunes, UK
