July 23, 2010

By By Mark Worden, Milan

Italian executives are positively delighted with today's (July 23) announcement by major label representative FIMI that sales are up by value for the first time in 11 years.

According to data collected on FIMI's behalf by auditors Deloiite, sales in Italy during the first six months of 2010 were ?67.1 million ($86.1 million), an increase of 7.7% with respect to the ?62.3 million ($79.9 million) for the same period in 2009.

The growth was even more impressive for CD sales: total CD turnover was just under ?50 million ($64.1 million), compared to the ?45 million ($57.7 million) of the same period last year.

FIMI also expressed satisfaction with growth in digital music, which had a turnover of ?11 million ($14.1 million), an increase of 15%, with respect to the same period last year.

In terms of the overall market, local repertoire grew by 33% and now accounts for 53% of the total, FIMI reports.

Subscribe to Billboard magazine today!