Pop knocks rock off UK topspot

LADY Gaga, Cheryl Cole and La Roux have helped pop single sales unseat rock as the UK's most popular music genre.

Pop became king of the dancefloor with a 33.5 per cent share of all singles sales in 2009, up from 28.1 per cent in 2008.

It toppled rock's 24.5 per cent share in 2009, down from 31.2 per cent the previous year.

The shift marks five years since pop last held the crown as the dominant genre in the market.

Releases by the likes of Lily Allen and Robbie Williams also gave pop a big albums boost.

Figures will be published in music industry body the BPI's Statistical Handbook 2010, set to be published next Monday. Geoff Taylor, BPI's chief executive, said: "There's no doubting that 2009 was a vintage year for pop – some fantastic records led to a strong performance by the genre in both albums and singles.

"British urban talent shone in the R&B sector, virtually doubling their sales last year thanks to Tinchy Stryder, Dizzee Rascal, Chipmunk, N-Dubz and Taio Cruz."

R&B accounted for 9.6 per cent of album sales, down from 10.5 per cent in 2008, with JLS and Beyonc both featuring in the year-end top 10.