Escalating music download sales have helped double the size of the U.K. singles market over the past three years, according to figures published by The Official U.K. Charts Company (OCC).
Total U.K. singles sales for the first 51 weeks in 2006 alone reached 65.1 million units, according to the chart compiler, which is a joint venture between labels body the BPI and retailers group ERA. That figure represents more than twice the quantity sold in the whole of 2004, when the number of singles sold reached 32.3 million units, and is 36 percent higher than the 48 million sold in 2005.
The OCC attributes the growth in singles to the explosive rise in download sales. Downloaded singles in the 51 weeks reached 51.6 million units, up from a mere 5.8 million in 2004 and nearly double the 26.6 million units consumers purchased last year.
Downloads sold represent 79 percent of total singles sales so far this year, with the rest accounted for by physical singles.
