Reuters Photo: Chris Martin of Coldplay performs on stage at the Brit Awards at the Earls Court
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According to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) the global revenue for the music industry fell 3 percent to $21 billion in 2005, even with tremendous growth in the digital sale side of the industry.
On the digital side sales almost tripled to $1.1 billion, up from $400 million last year. Of those downloads their are pretty close to being evenly distributed between online downloads and mobile phone downloads.
The IFPA added that it has changed its reporting to the wholesale side rather than the retail price, because they feel that it more accurately portrays the shifting trend toward digital music. On the retail sales figures it shows that in 2005 music sales fell 2.4 percent to $33 billion.
The physical sales of CDs and DVDs dropped by 6.7 percent in revenue and 8 percent in total units sold.
In the worlds top market, the U.S., sales declined by 3 percent, close to what the overall global market experienced.
IFPI Chairman and CEO John Kennedy said "In Japan, digital has already made up for the decline in physical sales and other markets should go this way.
"It is encouraging that the markets with the strongest digital sales are also generally the best performing markets overall."
The top-selling album of the year was Coldplay's "X&Y" with over 8 million units sold, and second was Mariah Carey's "The Emancipation of Mimi."
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