Sales of music downloads in the United Kingdom have been monitored since 2004; during the 2000s, these sales were collated by the Official Charts Company and compiled weekly into the UK Official Download Chart, a record chart of the biggest-selling downloads in the UK.[1]
In September 2009, The Daily Telegraph published a chart of what were the best-selling music downloads of the decade to that point. American singer Lady Gaga was number one with her 2009 single "Poker Face".[2]
Several songs sold a significant amount in the final four months of the decade, after The Daily Telegraph list was published. These songs include "Bad Boys" by Alexandra Burke, "Fight for This Love" by Cheryl Cole, and "Killing in the Name" by Rage Against the Machine, which sold more than half a million copies in one week to become the 2009 Christmas number one.[3]
| Artist | scope=col | Song | scope=col | Record label | scope=col | Year | scope=col | Chart peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| scope=row style="text-align:center;" | 1 | Lady Gaga | "Poker Face" | Warner | 2009 | 1 | ||
| scope=row style="text-align:center;" | 2 | Kings of Leon | "Sex on Fire" | Sony | 2008 | 1 | ||
| scope=row style="text-align:center;" | 3 | Lady Gaga | "Just Dance" | Warner | 2009 | 1 | ||
| scope=row style="text-align:center;" | 4 | Kings of Leon | "Use Somebody" | Sony | 2008 | 2 | ||
| scope=row style="text-align:center;" | 5 | La Roux | "In for the Kill" | Warner | 2009 | 2 | ||
| scope=row style="text-align:center;" | 6 | "Run" | Sony | 2008 | 1 | |||
| scope=row style="text-align:center;" | 7 | "Hallelujah" | Sony | 2008 | 1 | |||
| scope=row style="text-align:center;" | 8 | "Bleeding Love" | Sony | 2007 | 1 | |||
| scope=row style="text-align:center;" | 9 | Snow Patrol | "Chasing Cars" | Universal | 2006 | 2 | ||
| scope=row style="text-align:center;" | 10 | Nickelback | "Rockstar" | Warner | 2007 | 1 | ||
| scope=row style="text-align:center;" | 11 | "I Kissed a Girl" | EMI | 2008 | 1 | |||
| scope=row style="text-align:center;" | 12 | Beyoncé | "If I Were a Boy" | Sony | 2008 | 1 | ||
| scope=row style="text-align:center;" | 13 | Rihanna featuring Jay-Z | "Umbrella" | Universal | 2007 | 1 | ||
| scope=row style="text-align:center;" | 14 | Take That | "Rule the World" | Universal | 2007 | 2 | ||
| scope=row style="text-align:center;" | 15 | featuring Nelly Furtado | "Broken Strings" | Universal | 2008 | 2 | ||
| scope=row style="text-align:center;" | 16 | "Boom Boom Pow" | Universal | 2009 | 1 | |||
| scope=row style="text-align:center;" | 17 | Duffy | "Mercy" | Universal | 2008 | 1 | ||
| scope=row style="text-align:center;" | 18 | Gnarls Barkley | "Crazy" | Warner | 2006 | 1 | ||
| scope=row style="text-align:center;" | 19 | "Hot n Cold" | EMI | 2008 | 4 | |||
| scope=row style="text-align:center;" | 20 | Dizzee Rascal featuring Calvin Harris and Chrome | "Dance wiv Me" | Dirtee Stank | 2008 | 1 | ||
| scope=row style="text-align:center;" | 21 | Tinchy Stryder featuring N-Dubz | "Number 1" | Universal | 2009 | 1 | ||
| scope=row style="text-align:center;" | 22 | "Human" | Universal | 2008 | 2 | |||
| scope=row style="text-align:center;" | 23 | Pink | "So What" | Sony | 2008 | 1 | ||
| scope=row style="text-align:center;" | 24 | "" | EMI | 2009 | 1 | |||
| scope=row style="text-align:center;" | 25 | Estelle featuring Kanye West | "American Boy" | Warner | 2008 | 1 | ||
| scope=row style="text-align:center;" | 26 | Flo Rida featuring T-Pain | "Low" | Warner | 2008 | 2 | ||
| scope=row style="text-align:center;" | 27 | "Black and Gold" | Universal | 2008 | 2 | |||
| scope=row style="text-align:center;" | 28 | Timbaland presents OneRepublic | "Apologize" | Universal | 2007 | 1 | ||
| scope=row style="text-align:center;" | 29 | Girls Aloud | "" | Universal | 2008 | 1 | ||
| scope=row style="text-align:center;" | 30 | Mika | "Grace Kelly" | Universal | 2007 | 1 | ||
| scope=row style="text-align:center;" | 31 | "I Gotta Feeling" | Universal | 2009 | 1 | |||
| scope=row style="text-align:center;" | 32 | featuring Amy Winehouse | "Valerie" | Sony | 2007 | 2 | ||
| scope=row style="text-align:center;" | 33 | Rihanna | "Disturbia" | Universal | 2008 | 2 | ||
| scope=row style="text-align:center;" | 34 | Coldplay | "Viva la Vida" | EMI | 2008 | 1 | ||
| scope=row style="text-align:center;" | 35 | Dizzee Rascal & Armand Van Helden | "Bonkers" | Dirtee Stank | 2009 | 1 | ||
| scope=row style="text-align:center;" | 36 | Flo Rida featuring Ke$ha | "Right Round" | Universal | 2009 | 1 | ||
| scope=row style="text-align:center;" | 37 | Madonna featuring Justin Timberlake | "4 Minutes" | Warner | 2008 | 1 | ||
| scope=row style="text-align:center;" | 38 | Sugababes | "About You Now" | Universal | 2007 | 1 | ||
| scope=row style="text-align:center;" | 39 | and The Pussycat Dolls featuring Nicole Scherzinger | "Jai Ho! (You Are My Destiny)" | Universal | 2009 | 3 | ||
| scope=row style="text-align:center;" | 40 | "I'm Not Alone" | Sony | 2009 | 1 |