Downloads now
account for 15.4% of record album sales in the U.S., according to a mid-year industry
report from Nielsen SoundScan. Sales of tracks delivered online were up 34.4% during the first six months of 2008 compared with the year-ago period, although that wasn't enough to offset a continued decline in overall album sales. The industry sold 11% fewer albums during the period; CD sales, down 16.3%, accounted for most of the difference.
Individual track sales also continued to grow rapidly. Americans bought 532.7 million songs online over the past six months, up 30% from 2007's first half. Single-song downloads -- both legal and illegal -- are thought to be among the primary causes of the continued decrease in album sales, as consumers opt to selectively buy songs rather than full albums of "one-hit wonder" artists.
Private equity-owned major label EMI Music plc lost market share, falling to 9.4% amid layoffs and
management changes apparently intended to spur an experimental digital
strategy. The label is owned by Terra Firma Capital Partners, the firm directed by
Guy Hands. EMI lays claim to one of the year's blockbuster records in Coldplay's
Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends, released two weeks before the end of the second quarter; it has already sold more than
720,000 copies in the U.S. That's roughly half as many as Lil Wayne's
Tha Carter III, the
top-selling album of 2008 thus far.
Independent labels now account for 13.9% of the overall market, the report said. Only Warner Music Group Corp. [
WMG] and indies gained market share during the period, while the other three majors lost market share.
-- Paul BonanosFor more on the surge in music downloads see
Billboard,
Variety and
MTV News
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