Digital sales boost EMI profits

Music giant EMI lifted annual profits by almost 13% today after seeing revenues from its digital content more than double during the year.

The group, which has Coldplay, Gorillaz and Robbie Williams on its roster of artists, said its music division outperformed the rest of the industry as group underlying profits rose to £159.3m (€234m) in the year to March 31.

Downloads of its music content showed the strongest growth as EMI reported digital sales increased to £112.1m (€164m) from £46.9m (€69m) a year earlier.

That included strong digital sales of Coldplay’s latest album X&Y, which was the largest selling digital album release in the United States.