Digital music sales flying - CD sales crashing!

Online music is flying, according to recent research - and physical CD sales are sinking faster than thet Titanic.

According to Nielsen SoundScan figures for the week ending Oct. 1 marking the end of the third quarter, physical album sales so far this year totaled 370.5 million units, down 8.3% from the 404.2 million racked up in the year-ago period.

However, digital album sales climbed 115%, with 22.6 million sold through September. Downloaded tracks soared 72%, to 418.6 million.

Hit your local iTunes - and tough luck HMV.