Well, it’s the middle of the year and about time to recap the big events in music in 2013 – particularly, the best and worst sales numbers of the year. the It turns out, not so surprisingly, that French electronic duo Daft Punk have broken records both for album and single sales this year. However, it’s not just Daft Punk, who are getting a hefty chunk from the retail pie – sales of both singles and albums are up from this time in 2012 – with singles experiencing a 2.5 percent increase, while compilation sales are un 9% (according to the Telegraph). It seems that the music business has didital sales to thank for whatever increase there is in the overall numbers, seeing as how 99% of all UK sales this year have fallen into the digital category.

Daft Punk, Leeds Wireless Festival
Unless lightning strikes twice, Daft Punk are set to come out as this year's clear winners.

In terms of singles, it is no secret that Daft Punk’s Get Lucky, featuring Pharrell Williams and Chic's Nile Rodgers easily takes the top spot for sales. Since its release ten weeks ago, the summer hit has passed one million individual sales in the UK. Not only that, but the record has also broken records for number of plays on streaming service Spotify – and it managed to do it in just 24 hours after its release. Clearly, the Frenchmen are on a roll this year, since the full album – Random Access Memories, also broke the Spotify streaming record on its release shortly after. The second single, not so unexpectedly, is Robin Thicke’s single Blurred Lines – also a collaboration with Pharell Williams – with 828 000 copies sold to date.

Robin Thicke, Vanity Fair Oscar Party
Robin Thicke follows as a close second.

While the album market is still struggling to make up for the introduction of subscription services (as well as a hefty chunk of illegal downloads,) it looks like the summer festivals are a big help. Bands like The Rolling Stones, Arctic Monkeys, Munford and Sons and Chase & Status have all seen a notable increase in sales since their gigs at Glastonbury last week. In addition, 19 of this week’s Top 40 acts played at Glasto last week.

Arctic Monkeys, Radio 1's Big Weekend
Glastonbury has done wonders for bands like the Arctic Monkeys' sales.