Now that's what I call music 2009 – with record singles sales

Published on Friday 23 October 2009 22:10

CHART battles for the No 1 slot have helped 2009 smash records to become the biggest year ever for UK singles sales, industry experts said.

Recorded-music body the BPI hailed the "astonishing" transformation of the market, as it was revealed that 117 million singles have already been sold this year.

The Official Charts Company data showed that track sales have surpassed the previous all-time record of 115.1 million, set in 2008.

The total has been reached with ten weeks of trading, including the vital Christmas period, still to run this year, which marks the 60th anniversary of the 7in vinyl single.

Martin Talbot, managing director of the Official Charts Company, said: "The explosion in the singles market has been nothing short of astonishing this year, driven by big sellers from Lady Gaga, La Roux, Dizzee Rascal, Lily Allen and Black Eyed Peas.

"What is so encouraging about this growth is that it looks likely to continue right through to the end of the year – in the past ten days alone, we have seen Alexandra Burke, Robbie Williams and, this week, Cheryl Cole, releasing singles which are already rivalling the biggest sales totals of this year."

Lady Gaga has the top two best-selling singles of the year so far – Poker Face is in first place and Just Dance at No2. Black Eyed Peas are third with I Gotta Feeling and fifth with Boom Boom Pow, while La Roux's In for the Kill is fourth.

Geoff Taylor, BPI chief executive said: "Consumers are responding to the value and innovation offered by the legal services and these figures show how the market could explode if government acts to tackle illegal peer-to-peer filesharing."

Last month, Business Secretary Lord Mandelson said those alleged by media companies to be persistent illegal file-sharers could have their internet connections cut off.

Unlike the albums market, which is dominated by CD sales, the UK Top 40 is almost entirely comprised of digital singles.

During this year, 98.6 per cent of singles were sold in digital formats. More than 389.2 million single-track downloads have been sold in the UK since 2004.