Sales of albums slide in the US

Lil'Wayne had a successful sales year in the US

Sales of albums in the US dropped by 14% in 2008, but figures role overall thanks to a surge in digital purchases.

Digital album sales went up by 32%, while singles were 27% up on 2007, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

The year's biggest-selling album was Tha Carter III by Lil'Wayne, while Bleeding Love by Leona Lewis was the top digital track with sales of 3.42m.

Vinyl records also enjoyed an upsurge in 2008, with sales of 1.88m - an 89% increase on the previous year.

The biggest-selling vinyl album was Radiohead's In Rainbows, which shifted 25,800 copies.

Classical slide

Music sales, including physical and digital formats, music videos and ringtones, were more than 1.5 billion in 2008, compared to 1.36 billion in 2007.

It is the fourth consecutive year on record that music sales in the US have topped the billion mark, while digital purchases broke the barrier for the first time in 2008.

But sales of physical releases - CDs, cassettes and vinyl - via internet sites dipped by 8.6%, slipping three million beneath the 30 million mark of 2007.

US 2008 TOP FIVE ALBUMS 1 Tha Carter III - Lil'Wayne 2 Viva La Vida - Coldplay (pictured) 3 Fearless - Taylor Swift 4 Rock N Roll Jesus - Kid Rock 5 Black Ice - AC/DC Source: Nielsen SoundScan

Album sales across all musical genres suffered a downturn, with rock and metal holding up the strongest. Classical musical fared the worst, sliding 26%.

It is the seventh time in eight years that album sales have dropped in the US.

In the artist stakes, Taylor Swift was the best-seller of 2008, followed by veteran rockers AC/DC and rap star Lil'Wayne.

But Swift was beaten by R&B star Rihanna in singles sales. Kanye West was third, with Chris Brown and Britney Spears close behind.

British acts Coldplay and Leona Lewis made the top 10 at seven and nine respectively.

Nielsen also released all-time sales figures since 1991, when it began tracking music sales in the US.

Country star Garth Brooks topped the chart ahead of the Beatles and Mariah Carey, while the best-selling album of the period is Come On Over by Shania Twain.

It has sold 15.47 million copies since 1991, just ahead of Metallica's self-titled album with 15.39 million.