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WASHINGTON, D. C.: The music industry suffered
another tough year in 2008 as gains in digital sales in the United
States failed to make up for a double-digit drop in compact disc
purchases, according to Nielsen Co.
Nielsen, in its year-end review
released this week, said total album sales in the United States,
which includes CDs, vinyl LPs and digital downloads, fell 14 percent
in 2008 to 428.4 million units from 500.5 million in 2007.
Overall album sales, which take
into account individual song downloads equivalent to an album, fell
8.5 percent in 2008 to 535.4 million units from 584.9 million in
2007, Nielsen said.
Sales of digital albums rose 32
percent to 65.8 million units in 2008 from 50 million in 2007 but CD
sales dropped by nearly 20 percent in 2008 to 360.7 million units
from 449.5 million in 2007, Nielsen said.
CD sales continue to account for
more than 80 percent of album sales in the United States but they
have been declining steadily as digital downloads and music piracy
on the Internet sends fewer people to music stores.
Nielsen said the number of
digital tracks sold through services such as Apple’s iTunes and
Amazon.com topped one billion units for the first time in 2008, with
1.07 billion units sold, up 27 percent from 844.2 million in 2007.
Surprisingly, the number of vinyl
LP albums purchased in 2008 rose to 1.88 million units, up from 0.99
million in 2007, Nielsen said, adding that most of the vinyl
purchases were from independent record stores.
Nielsen said the top-seller of
2008 was Lil Wayne’s album Tha Carter III, with 2.87 million
copies sold, followed by Coldplay’s Viva la Vida, with 2.14
million and Taylor Swift’s Fearless with 2.11 million.
Universal Music Group sold the
most albums in 2008, taking a 31.5 percent market share, followed by
Sony BMG with 25.3 percent and Warner Music Group with 21.38
percent.
--AFP
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