British music sales are booming as consumers are turning to buying songs online rather than illegally downloading them.

Download sales grew by 33 percent last year, while 2008 was the biggest sales year on record in terms of singles sales in all formats, with 115 million single tracks sold.

Of course the recession has hit some big box retailers but others claim this could help drive digital sales and help the industry.

“During a recession, people look for purchases that are excellent value for money and bring a lot of enjoyment, and music does just this,” says BPI boss Geoff Taylor. (Yahoo News)

As more people buy online this will help the market for albums. For instance, 10 million albums were sold, a 65 percent increase on 2007.

“The big lesson of 2008 is that if the music is strong enough and retailers work well with suppliers to get that product in-store, music fans will respond and buy in their droves.”

The British music industry can continue to smile after Apple said that songs on iTunes will be available without anti-piracy software.