Metablocks Sound and Pictures

According to a new Nielsen/Soundscan report, online digital sales of music continues to grow. Here are the highlights of the report:

Album Statistics:

• In last 5 years, digital accounts for 40% of total music sales (units)
• At the current rate, digital will account for 50% of music sales by the end of 2010
• Nearly 1 out of every 3 album purchases in the U.S. currently are through a digital service, Internet retailer, mail-order, at a “non-traditional retail store” or at a concert
• 21% of all album sales in ’09 YTD are Digital album sales (30 million) which is up from 15% at year-end ‘08
• Album sales were down 14% compared to last year
• CD album sales were down 20% over 2007
• Digital albums were up 32% and accounted for 15% of all album sales
• In 2008 digital album sales reached 65 million; up 32% over digital album sales in 2007
• Types of digital albums consumers are buying: Rock (41%), Alternative (27%), R&B (12%), Hard Music (9%), Rap (7%), Sountracks (6%), Country (6%)
• Country music leads in growth for digital album sales; all genre’s are up 10%+ except for Soundtracks

Track Statistics:

• Digital track sales broke the 1 Billion sales mark in 2008 and were up 27% over 2007’s digital track sales
• The Top 200 digital tracks in 2008 account for 17% of all track sales

The study also shows the impact that TV competitions (American Idol, i.e.) and award shows (CMA, i.e.) have had on music sales. You can click here for the Nielsen presentation that summarizes these studies in PDF format.

Most Recent Posts

• Recent Widget Blog Posts - December 15th, 2009
• Lady Gaga's 'I'M A FAME MONSTER' Facebook App - December 14th, 2009
• Music and Technology this Week - July 1st, 2009
• Warner Music, Sony BMG, Universal and Drupal! What Gives? - July 1st, 2009
• Country Music Fans and Digital Music Sales - Interesting Numbers - June 29th, 2009

This entry was posted on Sunday, June 21st, 2009 at 5:25 pm and is filed under Music. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.