Nielsen SoundScan reveals that the sale of physical albums in the U.S. continues to drop. In the six month period ending in June, sales were already down by 4.2 percent when compared with last years sales during the same time.
They also said that digital sales may possibly make the business more profitable overall. Digital album sales were up 126 percent over last year's first half, with digital tracks increasing 77 percent.
Taking all sales into account for the first half, so far there has been a gain of one-tenth of one percent over last year.
The physical albums sold 270.6 units domestically through June, which is an overall drop of 12 million units from last years 282.6 million.
Digital albums increased greatly with by over 8.2 million downloads, for a total of 14.7 million units. Last years first half only produced 6.4 million units. Digital tracks improved by a huge 122 million units; 281 million tracks sold against 158 million last year.
So far the number one selling album of the year has been Walt Disney (DIS) Records' "High School Musical," with 2.6 million albums sold so far. Rascal Flatts' "Me and My Gang," has sold close to 2 million units, and is also a Disney property.
Universal Music Group is currently leading all companies in market share with a huge 31.6 percent of album sales; it includes UMG"s independent arm and Fontana Distribution. Sony BMG Music Entertainment is in second with 23.9 market share.
All of this, and physical retailers still aren't pushing for download Kiosk strategies to be implemented.
Comment Preview