According to the Britain's official record sales tracker, Official UK Chart Company, British consumers have bought already over 500,000 legal music downloads this year.
The download chart is due to launch officially later this summer, but has been functional for a while now. The chart includes all the major online music services available in the UK, apart from the recently launched Napster UK, which will be added to the system soon.
Official UK Chart Company is a joint venture between British Association of Record Dealers and the UK's own equivalent of RIAA, the BPI. BPI's chairman, Peter Jamieson, praised the latest download figures by stating "We have yet another milestone in the development of this exciting new market for music. Invesotrare are showing confidence in the future of music... This is shaping up to be a breakthrough year for the music industry."
The top seller in the UK download charts this year has been Coldplay's 2,000 miles.
Source: The Register
Written by: Petteri Pyyny @ 4 Jun 2004 15:22