Sales of digitally streamed music increased 242 percent.

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Last year music sales in Sweden increased for the first time in a decade, boosted better digital legal alternatives such as Spotify. New figures indicate that the upbeat trend is solid.

During this year’s first six month Swedish recod companies and labels increased sales by 1.7 percent, according to new figures by trade organization Ifpi, the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry.

Lisa Cronstedt, spokeswoman at Ifpi in Sweden, said that better legal alternatives, the new “Ipred” copyright law and a good selection of music mainly explain the upswing.

"Sweden is still one of the few countries in the world music with a positive sales performance", she said.

Revenues from albums dived 18 percent but still contributes for 64 percent of the record companies sales. Digital music accounts for one-third of the sale, an increase by more than 100 percent.

Sales of digitally streamed music increased 242 percent during the period.

Swedish music service Spotify, legally offering instant access to millions of tracks, has became a power-player at both the Swedish and international music scene.

The controversial "Ipred" law came into effect on April 1 last year and gives copyright holders the right to require service providers to reveal details of users who share files, paving the way for legal action.

Until the "Ipred" law was introduced, Sweden -- home to one of the world's most popular filesharing sites, The Pirate Bay -- had widely been considered a haven for illegal filesharing.