British Music Industry Is Booming

Yahoo: Music downloading is booming in Britain, according to recent figures from the British Phonographic Industry (BPI). So far, more than 10 million downloads have already been sold this year - which is almost double the figure for the whole of 2004...BPI Chairman Peter Jamieson stated, “The record industry has enthusiastically embraced the new legal download services since their emergence in the mainstream little more than a year ago and now we’re beginning to reap the rewards...The battle against illegal filesharing will continue, but we are delighted to have hit this milestone so soon.”

Also, vinyl records  have remained consistently popular due to their heavy use by DJs...Sales of seven-inch singles have risen 87 percent compared to the same three-month period last year..."Impressive gains in DVD single sales have, alongside downloads, more than compensated for the decline in the CD single. Overall there has been a 52.4% improvement in single sales." (including downloads)