Sunday has become the most important day of the week for singles sales thanks to the impact of downloading, according to new figures from the BPI.

 

In total, 95.3% of all singles sales in 2008 were digital, with Sunday the strongest day for downloading.

 

Some 17.6% of individual downloads throughout the year were made on Sunday, with Saturday second at 16.9%. Monday – traditionally a strong day for physical music sales – accounted for only 13.4% of tracks downloaded, behind Friday, with 14.1%. Wednesday was the slowest day, with 12.2% of sales.

 

Apple’s iTunes remains the dominant digital retailer in the UK, claiming a 71.8% unit share in the download singles market and a 6.2% share of album sales overall. New entrants and platforms, however, are making significant inroads, with music-based games like Rock Band and Guitar Hero accounting for 6% of all games sold last year.

 

The figures also reveal that just under one in 10 people in the UK now buy music digitally on a regular basis, almost doubling from 5.1% in 2007.

 

Digital is still dominated by males (64.8%) and those in their teens and twenties (59.1%). It has been suggested that the massive growth in digital over the past five years is about to plateau, but the findings show there is still growth potential among females and the over 40s.

 

Digital has also made a considerable impact on the albums market. Last year, 7.7% of all albums sold were digital, up from 4.5% in 2007 and 1.8% in 2006.

 

BPI chief executive Geoff Taylor notes, “The rapid growth of the digital market is clear evidence that British record companies have the business models in place to deliver music to fans online.

 

“The impressive fact that one pound in every 10 is earned online shows that labels are leading the way in the entertainment world in developing digital services.”

 

Source: MW

hardly surprising, seeing as most of the big new releases come out on Sunday and most people are at home at the time!

71.8% unit share in the download singles market

 

The most surprising iTunes hold the largest sales share :o

 

Let's hope iTunes sales are not missing again :heehee: anyone remembers the odd day, when iTunes sales were missing.

I don't think it's that surprising. It does show that Amazon really hasn't made as big an impact as a lot of people thought they would...

I'd imagine iTunes has a huge share partially thanks to the iPod and the fact that you need iTunes to transfer music across to it unless you p*** about with hacks.

 

Those stats are for 2008 - when did Amazon MP3 downloads launch?

 

That 71.8% iTunes has of the download singles market, and 80.5% for digital albums will be considerably less this year.

 

 

I don't think it'll be considerably less at all, I'm not sure that it'll even be any less. The introduction of DRM-free music will certainly have helped them as there's less of an incentive to swap, and Amazon certainly isn't doing that well. The fake version of 'Untouched' which was on iTunes sold more than the real version that was still available on Amazon...

I don't think it'll be considerably less at all, I'm not sure that it'll even be any less. The introduction of DRM-free music will certainly have helped them as there's less of an incentive to swap, and Amazon certainly isn't doing that well. The fake version of 'Untouched' which was on iTunes sold more than the real version that was still available on Amazon...

But as more and more ppl realize they can get most of the Top 40 on Amazon for 29p (at some point), and an album for £3, we will see iTunes share drop.

 

 

I don't think Amazon put songs to 29p anywhere near quickly enough to make much of an impact. 'Boom Boom Pow', 'Number One', We Made You' and' Fairytale' are 79p. 'Bonkers', 'Not Fair', 'Tiny Dancer', 'Warrior's Dance', 'Red', 'Let's Get Excited', 'Hoedown Throwdown', 'Kiss Me Through The Phone', 'Candy', 'Untouched', 'We Are The People', 'It's My Time', 'Release Me' and 'New In Town' are all 69p, that's mainly the top half of the top 40 which are barely any different to what iTunes charge. At that price people aren't going to be bothered as they're the songs people want most at the moment. Their £3 album range is fairly poor too, it's all stuff you can generally find that cheap somewhere else anyway, they have 'Relapse' at £3.99 at the moment but I can't see it lasting and that's about it as far as current decent selling albums go...

Edited May 26, 200916 yr by RabbitFurCoat

I don't think it's that surprising. It does show that Amazon really hasn't made as big an impact as a lot of people thought they would...

 

I wouldn't be so sure about that.

 

I would guess those are average figures for 2008, and since Amazon UK downloads only began late in the year...

Edited May 26, 200916 yr by vidcapper

I knew that iTunes has a big share but I thought, not more than 60%. 71.8% is huge, although I do thin kit is now a bit less this year because of Amazon but Apple must be still the leader :o

 

I would love to see the distribution of downloads over a 24 hour period.

 

 

 

 

I would love to see the distribution of downloads over a 24 hour period.

So would I. I think on Saturday and Sunday most are made during the early hours of the afternoon. Weekdays most are made from 4pm onwards. But would love to see data backing this up.

proof that songs should be out to download either on Sat/Sun and not released the same time as the physical on a Monday

haha, thats funny, i bet sunday used to be the day when the least singles were sold when it was just physicals.

So would I. I think on Saturday and Sunday most are made during the early hours of the afternoon. Weekdays most are made from 4pm onwards. But would love to see data backing this up.

I would say on Sunday people are downloading a lot of music also late afternoon, in the evening, after the chart shows.

How good would it be for record companies to have a Saturday early evening show to highlight music ... people hear a song on Saturday evening and download it on Sunday. Oh, for Top of the Pops to back on TV!

 

I remember reading in 1996 how valuable a slot on the BBC lottery show was ... think it was The Times who highlighted the performance of MeatLoaf's single (can't remember it) and Suggs' Cecilia. After performing these songs on the lottery show both soared up the charts.

 

As for itunes ... from personal experience I buy from itunes because my wife buys me vouchers (which are easily and readily available in supermarkets) for presents. Perhaps amazon needs something similar?

How good would it be for record companies to have a Saturday early evening show to highlight music ... people hear a song on Saturday evening and download it on Sunday. Oh, for Top of the Pops to back on TV!

 

I remember reading in 1996 how valuable a slot on the BBC lottery show was ... think it was The Times who highlighted the performance of MeatLoaf's single (can't remember it) and Suggs' Cecilia. After performing these songs on the lottery show both soared up the charts.

 

As for itunes ... from personal experience I buy from itunes because my wife buys me vouchers (which are easily and readily available in supermarkets) for presents. Perhaps amazon needs something similar?

Amazon has vouchers too.

Ah, didn't know that, Ben. Are they available in supermarkets? Any time I'm in Asda, Tescos or Sainsburys I only ever see iTunes vouchers.

The irony for me, is that since Spotify came along, I have virtually stopped downloading single tracks.

 

However, I physically buy the same amount of CD albums as I did previously.