Digital Music Sales Up 14 Percent in United States

Nielsen survey agencies today announced the 2012 mid-year SoundScan figures stating that digital album sales in the United States rose 14 percent over the same period last year. Own digital track sales up 6 percent. The best-selling album is 21 from Adele with total sales of 3.6 million units, far exceeding the number 2 album, Tuskegee from Lionel Richie, who just sold 900 thousand units.

Overall, music sales rose 6 percent while the overall album sales fell very slightly, 0.6 percent because of declining CD sales. However, according to Nielsen CD sales still contribute over 61 percent of album sales in 6 months, down from the previous year to reach 66 percent.

Overall, album sales and digital track will set a new record this year. Digital sales now contribute to 57.7 percent of all music sales, up from 53 percent in the first half of 2011 ago. 

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