Songwriters have felt the effect of the slump in CD sales after the royalties collected on their behalf fell for the first time last year.

PRS for Music, the organisation that represents 75,000 songwriters, composers and music publishers in the UK, blamed digital piracy and a fall in high street sales for a 1% year-on-year decline in total royalties, down £7m to £611.2m in 2010. Royalties from recorded media fell 8.8% to £117.2m, only partially offset by an increase in income from overseas and from commercial radio in Britain.

The organisation collects royalties for songwriters from more than 25bn uses of music each year, from digital streams to breakfast radio and background music in shops.

Robert Ashcroft, chief executive of PRS, which represents artists such as Jessie J, Adele and Florence and the Machine star Florence Welch, said: "The loss of high street outlets, the slowdown in physical music sales as well as the challenges capturing the full value of music usage online has meant that for the first time we have seen royalties collected dip.

"Previously, any reduction from falling physical sales had been offset by our strong performance in music licensing both in the UK and internationally. In 2010 slower growth at home and abroad failed to fully mitigate the decline."

Combined digital and physical sales dropped 7% in 2010 to 120m units, with the CD market down 12.4% to 98.5m, . The slump has left retailer HMV in a fight for survival. It is in talks with its lenders and is closing 60 UK stores in a bid to slash costs.

Ashcroft called on the industry to work together to "support the fledgling digital market in the UK ensuring legal choice for consumers and vital income for creators." Growth in royalties from legal digital services slowed in 2010 to 4.3%.

While overall revenue fell £7m year on year, PRS for Music said the actual amount paid out to its members was down by only £0.8m due to reduced administration costs and improved efficiency within the organisation.