Lana Del Rey is the biggest selling digital artist of the first quarte

Sales of digital recorded music have overtaken those of their physical counterparts for the first time ever.

Digital accounted for 55.5% of the British music industries revenues in the first quarter of 2012, offsetting a decline in sales of physical formats such as CDs and vinyl according to a new report based on Official Charts Company data published by The BPI.

Subscriptions to music streaming services such as Spotify, Deezer, Napster and We7 are all up on the previous quarter, as are revenues generated from ad-supported music services. Sales of digital albums also contributed substantially to this growth with Lana Del Rey, Emelie Sande and Ed Sheeran scoring the Top 3 biggest selling digital albums for the first quarter of this year.

“This is a significant milestone in the evolution of the music business,” said BPI Chief Executive Geoff Taylor. “UK record labels have embraced digital to their core, supporting innovation and licensing more new online and mobile services than any other country.  As a result, the industry's prospects for growth look brighter than for several years.”

According to the Official Charts Company’s sales data, the Top 10 biggest selling digital albums of the fist quarter of 2012 are as follows:

Top 10 biggest selling digital albums for the first quarter of 2012
01 Born To Die - Lana Del Rey 0
02 Our Version Of Events - Emile Sande
03 + - Ed Sheeran
04 21 - Adele
05 Mylo Xyloto - Coldplay
06 Nothing But The Beat - David Guetta
07 What Did You Expect From The Vaccines - The Vaccines
08 Now That’s What I Call Music 80 - Various Artists
09 Ceremonials - Florence + The Machine
10 Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds - Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds