Nearly one in 12 albums sold in the US are by British artists after a new "British invasion" spearheaded by the Beatles, who originally led UK music into the American market.
Of the top-selling 3000 albums in the US, 8.1% are British acts, including Scottish singer-songwriter KT Tunstall and Snow Patrol, the Irish band with Glasgow links.
After first taking America by storm in 1963, the Beatles are leading the best-sellers with two compilation albums in 2006's top 20 US sellers.
The Love album of classics re-mastered and re-mixed by producer George Martin, was second in the best-selling British albums in America, while a compilation of their No 1 singles, entitled 1, was tenth.
Other veteran British acts still selling well across the Atlantic include Rob Stewart, Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin.
The invasion looks set to continue - Amy Winehouse achieved the highest ever debut position on the US chart for a British female artist when she entered the Billboard 200 at No 7 with Back to Black in March.
Lily Allen, Bloc Party, Joss Stone and James Morrison have also made an impact on the US charts, and Elton John's Rocket Man was his first US top-10 entry since 1997.
Geoff Taylor, chief executive of the BPI - formerly the British Phonographic Institute - said: "British music is on a creative high and British record labels continue to show great strength."
The Beatles 1 album, released in 2000, is still doing well with sales of more than 450,000 last year.
Albums from Led Zeppelin, Elton John, Def Leppard and others topped 200,000 sales, while Snow Patrol, Natasha Bedingfield and Gorillaz all had sales of half-a-million records.
Meanwhile, Amy Winehouse and Lily Allen were among Brits performing at the Coachella Valley Festival near Los Angeles at the weekend, as were the Arctic Monkeys.
Scottish group Jesus and Mary Chain reunited for the festival and were joined by actress Scarlett Johansson for one number.
Musical exports
TOP TEN BRITISH ACTS IN THE US FOR 2006
1 Back to Bedlam, James Blunt
2 Love, The Beatles
3 Eye to the Telescope, KT Tunstall
4 Eyes Open, Snow Patrol
5 Corinne Bailey Rae, Corinne Bailey Rae
6 Still The Same, Rod Stewart
7 Unwritten, Natasha Bedingfield
8 Demon Days, Gorillaz
9 Dark Side of the Moon, Pink Floyd
10 Number One, The Beatles
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