Brit CD sales suffer, downloads soar

Track sales up by 47.8% for the year

By PHIL GALLO

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Buoyed by a record sales week, the British music biz saw sales of individual tracks soar 47.8% in 2007 and sales of CDs slump by about 10%.

The British Phonographic Industry reported that 77.6 million songs were downloaded legally in the U.K. last year, up from 52.5 million in 2006. The BPI did not release specific figures on CD sales, noting only that sales were down about 10%. CDs represent 95% of all music sold in the country.

In the week between Christmas and New Year’s Eve, a record 2.95 million tracks were purchased, beating the same week in 2006 by nearly 1 million.

Topping the download chart were songs by “X Factor” winners Leon Jackson (“When You Believe”) and Leona Lewis (“Bleeding Love”). Amy Winehouse’s “Back to Black” was the year’s top-selling album with 2 million moved.