Industry leaders said
the figure was all the more impressive given the level of online music piracy,
which has robbed record labels and their artists of billions of dollars in
recent years. "There are nearly 70 legal music services, more than any
other country, and consumers continue to embrace the choice, value and
innovation on offer," said Geoff Taylor, chief executive of music industry
body BPI. "Five hundred million downloads is an astonishing achievement
especially given the ongoing backdrop of widespread illegal downloading the
music industry still faces." OCC data published on Thursday showed that by
the end of August this year, 102 million legal downloads had been recorded,
suggesting a total in 2010 of around 170 million. That would be up on 2009's
150 million and 2008's 110 million, although some executives at major labels
have expressed concern about the slowing rate of growth in downloads at a time
when physical album sales are declining steadily. The biggest selling single of
2010 so far in Britain is Owl City's "Fireflies" which has sold more
than 600,000 copies. Since the beginning of official digital sales data in
2004, the biggest selling download is Black-Eyed Peas' "I Gotta
Feeling," which became the first download to sell a million copies in June
this year.
