LP Sales Skyrocket in 2008
Robert Harley
SoundScan, the music-sales tracking company, just reported that sales of LPs increased by 89% in 2008 compared with the previous year. LPs sold at the rate of 1.88 million units in 2008, nearly double the 990,000 units sold in 2007. This is the highest number of LPs sales since 1991 when SoundScan began tracking sales numbers. Two out of every three LPs sold in 2008 were sold through independent record retailers.
This is the only bright spot in an otherwise dismal year for music sales, which saw a 14% drop in total album sales in 2008 (CDs and full-album downloads) to 428 million units. Classical, Latin, and Country each experienced a more than 21% decline. Rock, Metal, Alternative, and New Age declined, but not as precipitously as other genres.
Sales of CDs were down by nearly 20%, to 361 million units. This represents 84% of all album sales. Downloads increased by 27% in 2008 compared with 2007, with just over a billion song purchased digitally.
By Robert Harley
My older brother Stephen introduced me to music when I was about 12 years old. Stephen was a prodigious musical talent (he went on to get a degree in Composition) who generously shared his records and passion for music with his little brother.
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