According to the BPI, before 2009’s even finished, it’s already become the biggest ever year for UK singles sales, the decline in physical sales being healthily offset by the growth of downloads. While listeners bought 115m singles in 2008, in 2009 that had risen to 117.6m 10 weeks before year’s end.

Leading the musical vanguard was Lady Gaga, whose Poker Face and Just Dance were the two top-selling releases, ahead of Black Eyed Peas and La Roux.
Despite the increase, there were still over a billion illegal downloads in the same period, though Geoff Taylor, BPI Chief Executive, was hopeful that this would change: ‘Consumers are responding to the value and innovation offered by the legal services, and these new figures show how the market could explode if Government acts to tackle illegal peer-to-peer filesharing.’