7digital says music download biz booming

Sales up 188% and boom set to continue

10 January 2008 10:46 GMT / By Katie Scott

Kylie, Arctic Monkeys and The White Strips all had top selling albums last year according to 2007 sales figures from online download company 7digital.

Five Radiohead albums also featured in the Top 20 following the release of their back catalogue for digital download, while Phil Collins’ In The Air Tonight features in the singles chart off the back of its use in TV ad.

The top three singles of the year were Dave Gahan's Kingdom, Kylie's 2 Hearts and Pet Shop Boys' Integral.

Overall 7digital said its sales for the year were up 188%, due largely to popularity of DRM-free downloads and the availability of high-quality 320kbps format MP3 tracks, and it says that the growth is set to continue into 2008.

In a statement, 7digital precited that 2008 will see the "death of DRM", marked already by the announcement by EMI that it is to offer its catalogue without DRM in April; and then, just days ago, news that Sony is to take a similar path.

Downloads will continue to triumph over physical CD sales continues 7digital, which has now made more than 70% of its 3.5 million strong catalogue available in MP3 format.

It adds that it is to make all of its downloads compatible with iPods, iPhones and all MP3 players, mobile phone or devices by half way through the year.