Newly released estimates from the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, a trade group for the recording industry, showed that spending on digital music downloads worldwide rose 8% to a massive $5.2 billion.

Other findings included that shoppers from around the globe bought a whopping 3.6 billion music downloads in 2011, a 17% increase from 2010.

The US and Korea were the nations at the forefront of digital music downloads revenue, with American’s contributing 52% and Koreans making up 53% of all sales.

Overall, digital music downloads account for 32% of record company revenue, up from 29% in 2010.

The number of countries that can download music from services such as iTunes and Spotify more than doubled from 23 to to 58.

 A worldwide figure concludes that 13.4 million people subscribe to digital music services, up 65%.

Smash hit “Just the Way You Are,” by the award winning Bruno Mars, sold more than 12.5 million digital copies last year, which made it the top selling single.

International Federation of the Phonographic Industry CEO Frances Moore said, “As we enter 2012, there are good reasons for optimism in the world of digital music.”

“Legal services with expanding audiences have reached across the globe and consumer choice has been revolutionized. Meanwhile momentum is building in the fight against piracy as governments and a growing circle of intermediaries engage with our industry,” added Moore.