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Sales of Bowie albums soar after death

16:36 pm on 12 January 2016

Sales of David Bowie's last album - released two days before his death from cancer - have soared along with downloads of his greatest hits.

Spotify said streams of Bowie's music are up 2700 percent, while the Official Charts Company in the UK said Bowie's Blackstar album was headed to the top spot on the charts with sales of 43,000 since its Friday release.

Bowie died at the age of 69 yesterday.

He was the first recording artist to sell bonds, known as 'Bowie Bonds,' against his intellectual property and backed by future earnings of his music.

The bonds were bought by Prudential Insurance in 1997 for $55 million, and let Bowie retain ownership of his work rather than selling the copyright.

It is estimated that Bowie's estate could be valued upward of $100 million, in part because he owned 100 percent of his music.