Adele, Rihanna help set digital album sales record

Adele and Rihanna have contributed to record-fast sales of digital albums in the UK in 2011 so far.

New data from the Official Charts Company reveals that over 10 million digital albums have been sold in the UK this year already, signifying an increase of 3 million downloads when compared to the same period last year, reports the Guardian.

Adele's 21 has been credited as the main driving force behind the surge in digital sales, with her second studio album reaching a total of 513,000 downloads so far.

Four albums have sold more than 100,000 copies in the first half of 2011. Aside from Adele, Rihanna's Loud, Bruno Mars's Doo Wops and Hooligans and Jessie J's Who You Are have all surpassed the digital milestone.

"The sales of digital albums are growing which is good news for the industry but, for the moment, this is co-existing with physical sales," explained Martin Talbot, managing director of the Official Charts Company.

However, Talbot insisted that physical formats still remain the preferred choice for the mass market, adding: "At this stage in the life cycle of the digital single, physical sales had declined to less than 10%. It looks like the CD is going to be around for a good while yet.

"I think this is evidence that there is a market for digital albums and bundles of tracks. There were fears that no one would buy digital albums, but they do - and in growing numbers."

Adele was recently named the artist who contributed the most to a music industry sales boost during the first quarter of the year.

> Adele's 21 'Amazon's most downloaded ever'

Watch Adele perform her new single 'Set Fire To The Rain' below: