ALL of the top ten best-selling albums of 2014 were by British musicians — for the first time since official charts began in the early 1990s.
In one of the best ever years for British music, singer Ed Sheeran’s album X took the top spot, selling 1.7 million copies.
It means a British act has topped the list, which is compiled by the Official Charts Company, every year for the past decade.
Sam Smith took second place, selling 1.25 million copies of his album In The Lonely Hour.
In contrast, no artists broke the 1 million barrier in 2013.
Another two male solo acts, George Ezra and Scottish singer Paolo Nutini, came in third and fourth, while bands One Direction and Coldplay also featured in the top ten.
The list was completed by Olly Murs, Paloma Faith and veterans Pink Floyd and Take That. Geoff Taylor, of UK music trade body BPI, said British success was “exciting news for the future”. He added that home-grown talent is “catching fire around the world”.
This year was also the first time physical CDs made up less than half of all the albums bought in the UK.
Digital sales have soared, thanks in large part to the growing popularity of streaming, which allows people to listen to music in `real time’ on the internet, rather than downloading a file to listen to it later.
Streaming now accounts for half the £29.7 million (Dh167.2 million) revenue from digital music sales.
Overall music sales in Britain stayed above £1 billion for a second year, but the figure was down slightly from 2013.
