Shining lights in the gloom.

Leona Lewis and Amy Winehouse buck the trend as industry looks for light at the end of the tunnel in 2008

Key players across the UK music industry insist there is cause for optimism in 2008, despite a massive year-on-year fall in albums sales.

BPI figures reveal that artist albums sales fell to 106.03m in 2007, some 14.3% lower than in 2006, which was itself down 1.4% on 2005.

The reasons for this fall are diverse, with industry sources blaming everything from the devaluing of music through giveaway promotions to the relative commercial failure of several high-profile follow-up albums and general economic uncertainty.

Despite the gloom, however, key music business figures say there is ground for optimism, as the industry enters what is likely to be a tough first quarter.

BPI chief executive Geoff Taylor, for example, sees hope in the digital music sphere, with total annual single-track download sales increasing almost 50% to 77.55 in 2007, while sales of digital albums more than doubled.

"Whilst the industry continually innovates in developing new business models, this remains a period of transition, and the industry's move to tap into a wider pool of revenue streams, particularly in digital, will take time to offset the impact of digital piracy, album unbundling and difficult retail trading conditions," he says.