British album sales fall 14 percent yr-on-yr in first half of 2012

LONDON (Reuters) – Album sales in Britain fell 13.8 percent to 43.6 million units in the first half of 2012 compared with 50.5 million in the same period of last year, according to figures from the BPI record industry body published on Monday. The overall decline came despite continued growth in digital album sales, which rose 17.3 percent year-on-year. The singles market continued to expand, with sales reaching 93.6 million in the first six months of the year, a rise of 6.3 percent from the first half of 2011. …