Album sales declined again in 2010

U.S. album sales declined in 2010 for the ninth time in the last ten years, and online downloads saw stalled growth, as well.

Music fans purchased 326.2 million physical CDs and digital albums in 2010, down 12.8 percent from 2009.

The figure is the lowest since 1993, the first year SoundScan began compiling the numbers.

Individual song downloads grew only 1 percent, to 1.17 billion, after 7 years of double and even triple digit growth.

The top album for the year was Eminem's latest, "Recovery," which moved 3.4 million copies. That number is higher than any album has seen since 2007.

By comparison, Eminem's blockbuster 2002 CD "Eminem Show" sold 7.6 million copies.

As a collection, the 8 albums of the "Glee" series sold 3.6 million copies.

The top selling individual song was Katy Perry's "California Gurls," at 4.4 million copies.

Written by: Andre Yoskowitz @ 6 Jan 2011 12:04

NeoandGeo

Good. A digital representation of sound should not be packaged and sold. It should only cost if you want actual merchandise, or want to see a band live.

End of story.

6.1.2011 12:31 #1

axlman

Now remember, this will be blamed on so-called Illegal Downloads.

When we and they all know it's due to the "CRAP" they are still putting out!

Maybe they should include a roll of toilet paper with each Crappy album!

6.1.2011 12:58 #2

oappi

@axlman +1

Also who has cd player now a days? To me cds are like floppy disk. They break easily if not stored properly, and they can only hold ~20 songs. Most legal copies also have only few good songs. Compare this to cellphone which you can just connect to pc and download hundreds of songs you actually like.

So instead of carrying a lot of disks + cd player (that is larger than most phones) you just have to carry your mobile phone.

im actually bit surprised that they still sell that many disks.

6.1.2011 15:10 #3

dEwMe

Yeah nothing but crap these days...I have bought some but they were older albums not anything new..

Just my $0.02,

dEwMe

6.1.2011 15:32 #4

scorpNZ

CD's are a good way to get a hard copy you also get to rip in the format you want to load to comp or any device,as for expense they are no diff to any physical media they all drop in price eventually & for cd's that's anything from $1.99-$9.99nz ,i find it odd music video albums aren't included in the above article

6.1.2011 17:01 #5

ROMaster2

Having the physical CDs are good if you want your music archived without using up a ton of storage space for FLAC. Of course the drawback is when your system crashes you'll have to re-rip them all.

Still, ripping from the CD usually produces better quality than the digital version, ESPECIALLY from iTunes.

6.1.2011 19:24 #6

20TONS

Consumer habits have changed and the Music/Movie studios are resisting conformity to the point that no one wants to purchase their product.

For the average consumer digital downloads are the way to go. For the true audiophiles a CD sounds better.

The studios need to start putting out quality recordings and lower their prices to an affordable level.

6.1.2011 22:08 #7

KillerBug

The best selling "artist" of the year was skittles...is it any wonder no one is buying this crap?

6.1.2011 22:52 #8

slowcloud

I actually bought more vinyl this year than any other year. I wonder what that format's sales looked like...

7.1.2011 09:36 #9

dEwMe

Originally posted by KillerBug: The best selling "artist" of the year was skittles...is it any wonder no one is buying this crap? LOL I must be getting old I never heard of "skittles"...well other than the candy...Guess I'd buy that...

Just my $0.02,

dEwMe

7.1.2011 14:37 #10

Gorgoroth

You know it's time for a change in the music business when people I WORK WITH are coming up to me and asking me about the black, death and folk metal bands I listen to... AND WANTING TO LISTEN TO THEM!!! I now have everyone at work hooked on the Finnish folk metal band Korpiklaani... :)

As long as labels keep putting out crappy artists and quit investing in careers, this is what the labels will get. I say go independent and foreign. Some cool labels with innovative bands: Solitude Productions (Russia), Firebox Records (Finland), Gardarika Musikk (again, Russia), I Hate Records (Sweden), Napalm Records (Austria, with a U.S. branch), Century Media/Nuclear Blast Records (both record labels are in one office here in the States, though their parent companies are based originally out of Germany), Hammer Of Hate (sick black metal label out of Finland), Candlelight Records (U.K. label, with a U.S. office), Northern Silence Productions (Germany, mostly concentrating on original and diverse black metal artists, though their subdivision Eyes Like Snow focuses on traditional and doom metal), and Metal Blade Records (U.S. and European offices) still puts out good metal records by bands like Amon Amarth, Dawn of Ashes, Lazarus A.D., and others... There's good music the world over, just be ready to look for it...

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7.1.2011 18:05 #11

Mez

Originally posted by axlman: Now remember, this will be blamed on so-called Illegal Downloads.

When we and they all know it's due to the "CRAP" they are still putting out!
I do not think they know that. I believe they think they are not putting out crap. They are under the delusion that they are god creators. They can take any no talent band and make them stars. That is the crux of that issue. Most of the good music is produced by indies or non US/UK artists. Because they are 'scum' not to be counted, the numbers are skewed. Good riddance but the pirates will pay dearly for this. Especially in the US where Obama got his seed money from the media. Right now there is a new wave of shake-downs. People using torrents are getting letters to cough up $1000 or go to court and be looking at a 6 figure settlement. The last time they did that they were hitting 20,000 persons a year till they got too greedy. Once the out of court settlements started to rise, people went to court and that derailed that movement. Until laws change they can't really prove you actually did the crime without a warrent.

8.1.2011 08:07 #12

Mez

Originally posted by 20TONS:
For the average consumer digital downloads are the way to go. For the true audiophiles a CD sounds better.
That is not true at all. I will agree that commercial 128 CBR is not high quality. Theoretically, any high quality magnetic file will be superior to the master CD. You can check the top sticky in the audio forum. Scroll down until you see "Here is some CDA info... ". To be high quality the ripper and codex need to be top quality. Whether the files need to be lossless is debatable. I say not but I will contend that it is debatable. CDs are made to be hard to read clearly so that they can't be copied easily. The files on the CD are not wave files like many believe but CDas. CDa format included error correcting data so the real time player can fudge the sound if the read was not correct. When you play a CD it is not 'bit perfect'. It is plenty good enough. Our hearing is not very precise.

8.1.2011 15:29 #13

DVDBack23

Originally posted by 20TONS: For the average consumer digital downloads are the way to go. For the true audiophiles a CD sounds better. 320 kbps VBR at the very least, anything less (ahem, iTunes) is insulting, especially for $1.29.

I agree with what others have said that that the average consumer (not AfterDawn member) will not know the difference between MP3 and FLAC but only care about the file size difference.

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8.1.2011 18:30 #14

flyingpen

Ofcourse the sales are going to decline... There was no Dethklok albums released in 2010!!!

Carpe Noctem

9.1.2011 22:18 #15

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