Global digital music sales increased 12 per cent to US$4.2 billion (J$373.8 billion) in 2009, but piracy in some country markets have reduced the industry up to 80 per cent, according to the IFPI’s annual Digital Music Report released Thursday.

Digital music now accounts for 27 per cent of total music sales (physical and digital) which is up six percentage points from the prior year, according to IFPI (formerly International Federation of the Phonographic Industry), which represents some 1400 record companies in around 70 countries.

The best-selling single tracks of 2009 were:

*Lady Gaga’s Poker Face, selling 9.8 million units;

*Black Eyed Peas’ Boom Boom Boom selling 8.5 million units;

*Jason Mraz’s I’m Yours selling 8.1 million units;

*Lady Gaga’s Just Dance selling 7.7 million units;

*Black Eyed Peas’ I Gotta Feeling selling 7.1 million units;

*Taylor Swift’s Love Story selling 6.5 million;

*Beyonce’s Single Ladies selling 6.1 million;

*Soulja Boy Tell ‘Em’s Kiss Me Tru the Phone selling 5.7 million;

*Kanye West’s Heartless selling 5.5 million units; and

*Britney Spears’ Circus selling 5.5 million.

There are currently some 400 licensed music services worldwide with iTunes accounting for one-quarter of US online sales, the report said.

“Despite this success, the increase in the music industry’s digital sales is not offsetting the sharp decline in sales of physical formats. Overall, global music sales fell for the tenth year running in 2009,” stated the 32-page IFPI report.

It added that the up-to-press digital and physical global sales in the first half of 2009 were down 12 per cent, excluding performance rights income. It blamed mostly piracy for the 2009 decline without examining the impact of the global recession. It stated that amongst the world’s biggest music markets, France, Spain and Brazil have seen sharp slumps in the industry. In Spain, which has one of the highest rates of illegal file-sharing in Europe, sales by local artistes in the top 50 have fallen by an estimated 65 per cent between 2004 and 2009; France, where a quarter of the internet population downloads illegally, has seen local artiste album releases fall by 60 per cent between 2003 and 2009; In Brazil, full-priced major-label local album releases from the five largest music companies in 2008 were down 80 per cent from their 2005 level.

“Digital piracy remains a huge barrier to market growth and is causing a steady erosion of investment in local music. The collapse in sales and investment in France, Spain and Brazil, countries with traditionally vibrant music cultures, testify to this and are a warning to the rest of the world,” stated IFPI chairman and CEO John Kennedy.

The report stated that there are “29.8 million frequent users of file-sharing services in the top five European Union markets alone” and added that US blockbuster Wolverine was illegally downloaded 100,000 times in 24 hours during its release. As a result the IFPI wants to continue its lobby against internet service providers (ISPs) who do not block illegal file-sharing sites.

“Governments are gradually moving towards legislation requiring ISPs to curb digital piracy. But progress needs to be much quicker. In 2009, France, South Korea and Taiwan adopted new laws to address the crisis. Other governments, including the UK and New Zealand, have proposed new laws for adoption in 2010,” stated the IFPI.