UK Album Sales Down 7m
The latest figures are grim reading for the record industry
NME reports that the latest set of figures released by the British Phonographic Industry have revealed a big drop in the number of albums sold in the UK in the first half of 2012.
The report says that 43.6 million albums were sold in the first half of 2012, which is a fall of 6.9 million from the first half of 2011, when 50.5 million albums were shifted.
Digital sales are up again by 17.3%, with sales of singles up by 6% overall. In total, 93.6 million singles were bought in the first half of 2012, up from 88 million during the same period last year.
Speaking about the figures, BPI chief executive Geoff Taylor said: "We've had another solid quarter of digital growth in sales volumes, both in albums and on singles. Album unit sales are down quite significantly year-on-year. But it's important to remember that these unit sales figures do not take into account the growing importance of music streaming and subscription services."