U.K.’s Music Downloads Outperforming CD Sales

Reuters is reporting that 2009 marked the first time in the United Kingdom that the growth of legal digital music revenues both outperformed and overcompensated for the continuing nosedive performance of declining CD/ DVD sales, according to PRS for Music, a music royalty distribution group.

PRS states that it’s still too early to consider this “a turning point” for the flailing industry, which has been in steady decline in both the U.S. and the U.K. over the past decade. This is thanks to the availability of free music online, Oasis continuing to release really bad records, and the general douche quotient of Lars Ulrich.

While industry hotshots remain cautious, PRS chief executive does state that “the next decade does, however, promise further growth in earnings from the legal digital market as well as the use of British music overseas.”

The 2009 spike in digital revenues (which ran at about $944.8 million, or 623 million pounds in British sillyspeak) is attributed to a 19% increase in British music being used abroad.

To continue this upward trend, the entirety of the British music industry is expected to send a really, really nice fruit and goodies basket (with muffins and everything) to Paul McCartney on Monday, with a note about how it would be “jolly good dandy” if they could kinda sorta actually release a Beatles song or two online now, because the whole relying on Susan Boyle thing’s really getting out of hand.

What do you think? Is the music industry on the rebound?