1 in 10 albums bought in US is British

Posted by editor on April 14th, 2009

One in 10 albums bought in the US in 2008 was by a British artist, recent figures from a BPI report have revealed. 

Artists such as Leona Lewis, Duffy and Estelle helped boost the British market share of the US market from 8.5% in 2007 to 10% in 2008. 

While - according to Neilsen Sound Scan - US album sales were down by 14%, British artists were able to gain an increasing portion of the US market. Leona Lewis’ Bleeding Love was the most downloaded single in the US. 

Top British albums in the US:

1) Coldplay - Viva La Vida (also 2nd biggest selling album of the year in the US)

2) AC/DC - Black Ice

3) Leona Lewis - Spirit

4) Amy Winehouse - Back to Black

5) Duffy - Rockferry

 

UK artists selling 1m+ tracks

Coldplay - 5.054

Leona Lewis - 4.728

Natasha Bedingfield - 3.923

M.I.A. - 2.235

Queen - 1.725

Estelle - 1.565

Rolling Stones - 1.304

Led Zeppelin - 1.176

Duffy - 1.039

BPI, Neilsen Sound Scan, UK news, US news | No Comments »

Leona Lewis, Alesha Dixon in Amazon price war

Posted by editor on April 13th, 2009

In an ultra-competitive move against itunes, Amazon has slashed prices of top-selling mp3s to a low of 29p. MP3’s by artists such as Leona Lewis and Bajan artist Shontelle are at the bargain basement price, while Alesha Dixon’s ‘Breathe Slow’ is currently selling for a comparatively expensive £1.69.

This move comes as Amazon attempts to challenge Apple’s dominance in the digital download market. Just last week Apple changed its pricing structure: moving from offering a flat fee for all downloads - most songs were originally 79p - to tiered pricing which will see songs sold for 59p, 79p and 99p. 

To find out more about what’s going on at Amazon and why read more over at The Guardian. 

Is this a test of how much consumers are willing to pay for downloads? And who will win? 

Amazon, Music, UK news | No Comments »