Downloaded albums accounted for 28.2% of album sales between July and September, compared to 20.1% during the same period in 2010, Official Charts Company data reveals. This comprised 6.1m albums sold in this way with Adele's 21 the overall top seller.

However, as the digital albums market grew to new levels, some 2.8 million fewer albums were sold overall with 21.8 million units snapped up in the quarter. This compares to 24.6 million units sold in the third quarter of ...