Music fans have spent more than £1bn on downloads in the seven years since legal digital services launched in the UK – with Adele's 21 now the biggest-selling album online.
A total of £316m was spent on music downloads by music fans in 2010 – almost a third of the total spent since legal services first launched in the UK in 2004 – according to industry trade body the BPI's annual yearbook.
The UK total for 2010 tallies with the figure put out in March by international music industry body the IFPI, which said digital sales in the UK grew almost 20% last year.
The BPI said that spending on digital albums grew 23% to £146m, more than 56.5m digital albums sold since the format launched in 2006.
A total of £132m was spent on digital singles, a 12% year-on-year increase, with almost 600m sold since 2004.
The BPI reckons that the rise of cheaper digital music downloads has led to the cost of an album – both physical and digital – falling by a third in the past decade to £7.32.
Digital music sales account for 25% of total music sales in the UK. The industry continues to suffer from declining sales of physical formats, with singles down 27% year on year to £6.9m and albums down 14.5% to £863m.
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