Pop was the UK's favourite type of music in 2012, according to the Official Charts Company.

Their data shows that the genre enjoyed the biggest share of the market over the last year, helped by the likes of Carly Rae Jepsen and One Direction.

Jepsen's 'Call Me Maybe' and Psy's 'Gangnam Style' - two of the year's big sellers - contributed to pop accounting for 38.5% of single sales in the UK last year.

Album sales meanwhile were 33.5% pop, with One Direction and Emeli Sandé boosting figures for the genre.

Rock music, in its loosest sense, enjoyed a strong 2012, with the likes of Gotye and fun. overseeing decent sales.

The genre saw a 20% share of single sales over the last year and 31.3% in album sales.

BPI Chief Executive Geoff Taylor said about the data: "British music fans' love affair with pop music continued in 2012, fuelled by a strong album releases from home-grown talent. But there is good news for rock fans too, with the genre fighting back to its strongest performance since 2008. In the singles market, pop grabbed its biggest share for ten years. The great range of digital music services in the UK, integrated into many mobile devices, is making it easy for younger music fans to get into buying music."