U2 prove that downloads help sales

Yet more proof for the RIAA lawyers that music downloads can help sales of physical CDs comes in the form of a rare number 1 on the British chart for Irish supergroup U2.

As Yahoo! Launch points out, about the song Vertigo from their new album, How to dismantle an atomic bomb -

"... the track has actually been available to download for about six weeks now and has been top of just about every download chart going - including the official one where since its "release" only a novelty record has been able to dislodge it. Now given that U2 appeal to a rather more mature audience than your average pop fan is kind of follows that they would be the rather more affluent types who would own personal digital players or be in the habit of downloading things to burn to CD. Yet despite this lead in, despite the thousands of downloads that have already been made, the physical release of the CD has still prompted people to flock to the shops to purchase it. Admittedly if you are a huge U2 fan you will want to get the single for the b-side alone but despite this, 'Vertigo' has nicely become one of the first releases to be both a smash hit download and a top-selling CD."

 

Of course the hype surrounding the launch of the special edition U2 iPod can't have done any harm but this is still an incredible feat for a band who've had a dearth of number 1 hits in the UK down through the years. Ok, the song is good but it's not that good, is it? What more proof is required to demonstrate that music downloads really do help to sell more music?