NASHVILLE (AP) – U.S. album sales continued to decline in 2006, down nearly 5 percent from the previous year, but total music sales were up thanks to a huge increase in digital downloads.
About 588.2 million albums were sold in 2006 – a 4.9 percent decline from 2005, according to year-end sales figures released Thursday by Nielsen SoundScan.
But digital sales increased by 65 percent over the previous year, with 582 million tracks sold, and digital album sales more than doubled, with nearly 33 million sold.
Overall music sales increased by more than 19 percent in 2006, but that number includes all albums, singles, music videos and digital downloads.
Billboard magazine senior correspondent Brian Garrity said consumers are buying more single songs and fewer albums, and that makes it harder for the record industry to maintain profits.
“At the end of the day, pop music is a singles-driven business, so why would I want to buy a whole album?” Garrity said.
In the final week of 2006, Beyonce’s song “Irreplaceable” set a new record for a single digital track, selling 269,000 copies in one week.
