Poll: Is rock music dying out?

According to figures released by the Official Charts Company yesterday, pop albums outsold rock albums for the first time in seven years in 2011.

Of course, the announcement will come as little surprise to most after Adele's 21 resided at the top for a mammoth 18 weeks, but news that only two guitar albums landed in the year-end top 20 list and its overall sales share dropped from 31.2% to 29.4% is still somewhat shocking. View the full top sellers list below:

1. 21 - ADELE 3,772,000
2. CHRISTMAS - MICHAEL BUBLE 1,292,000
3. DOO-WOPS & HOOLIGANS - BRUNO MARS 1,214,420
4. 19 - ADELE 1,210,410
5. MYLO XYLOTO - COLDPLAY 907,000
6. LOUD - RIHANNA 876,000
7. BORN THIS WAY - LADY GAGA 821,000
8. WHO YOU ARE - JESSIE J 805,000
9. + - ED SHEERAN 791,000
10. TALK THAT TALK - RIHANNA 655,000
11. LIONESS: HIDDEN TREASURES - AMY WINEHOUSE 638,000
12. IN CASE YOU DIDN'T KNOW - OLLY MURS 597,000
13. THE LADY KILLER - CEE LO GREEN 560,000
14. NOEL GALLAGHER'S HIGH FLYING BIRDS - NOEL GALLAGHER 492,000
15. PROGRESS - TAKE THAT 484,000
16. UP ALL NIGHT - ONE DIRECTION 468,000
17. NO MORE IDOLS - CHASE & STATUS 461,000
18. 4 - BEYONCE 451,000
19. GREATEST HITS - WESTLIFE 423,000
20. CRAZY LOVE - MICHAEL BUBLE 410,000

Between the two rock albums, Coldplay's Mylo Xyloto landed highest on the tally, finishing in sixth place. It shifted an impressive 80,000 units in its first week alone and totaled 907,000 sales by the end of the year - though it was easily their poppiest selection of songs to date.

And while there were a few notable offerings from artists in other genres, almost three-quarters of the list is made up of pop acts including Bruno Mars, Jessie J, Rihanna and Lady GaGa; with particularly notable absences from Arctic Monkeys' Suck It And See and Kasabian's Velociraptor! - both of which which were given extensive press coverage on their respective releases.

But is rock music really on the decline? For a genre that once regularly dominated the albums market, it would seem so; but with new releases expected from The Killers, Vampire Weekend, Biffy Clyro and the return of the Stone Roses this year, can the genre get back on its feet for 2012?

Do you think rock music is dying out? Vote in our poll below: