New figures from the UK shows that fans are continuing to abandon buying CDs, with sales down by 10% in the first half of 2007.

New figures from the UK shows that fans are continuing to abandon buying CDs, with sales down by 10% in the first half of 2007.

BPI figures show that 6.5m fewer albums have been sold in 2007 compared with the same period in 2006. Consumers failed to make up the shortfall online, with digital album sales increasing by just 2m.

The news comes after HMV announced its profits had halved and high-street record store Fopp shut its 81 outlets

The digital market continues to grow with a 50% increase in digital single purchases in the first six months of the year, downloads (including ringtones) still only account for 10-20% of the overall music market so are not replacing the drop in physical sales.