NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Music sales continued to slump in 2008 as the increased number of downloads of digital tracks failed to make up for a plunge in the sale of compact discs.
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Year-end sales figures released recently by The Nielsen Co. show total album sales, including album equivalents made up of single digital tracks, fell to 428.4 million units, down 8.5 percent from 500.5 million in 2007.
Physical album sales fell 20 percent to 362.6 million from 450.5 million, while digital album sales rose 32 percent to a record 65.8 million units.
Digital track sales, such as those conducted in Apple Inc.’s iTunes Music Store, were up 27 percent from last year, breaking the 1 billion mark for the first time at 1.07 billion.
The report continues a trend for the recording industry, which has a harder time maintaining profits when consumers buy single songs. The number of transactions rose 10.5 percent to 1.5 billion, although the figure treats single track and whole album purchases the same.
Nielsen also reported sales exceeded 65 million in the final week of 2008, representing the biggest sales week in the history of Nielsen SoundScan.
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Vinyl album comeback
As digital downloads grew, vinyl album sales also climbed. In 2008, more vinyl albums were purchased (1.88 million) than any other year. More than two of every three vinyl albums were purchased at an independent music store.
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