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Physical CD sales continue to dive

5 July 2007 15:10 by Andre "DVDBack23" Yoskowitz | 19 comments

According to new data from Nielsen SoundScan, physical CD sales continue their plunge while digital sales continue to surge.

For the six month period of January 1st to July 1st, only 230 million physical albums were sold, a heavy 15 percent drop from the same period in 2006. Digital music sales increased by about 50 percent, to 417 million during the period. Combining the figures, album sales dropped about 9.2 percent.

According to the data, the biggest selling album of the year was Chris Daughtry's "Daughtry," which has sold 1.7 million discs. For digital distribution, Gwen Stefani's "Sweet Escape" was tops with 1.8 million tracks sold so far.

Analysts stated the obvious when trying to explain the surge of digital sales compared to physical CDs. They attributed the numbers to the popularity of MP3 players especially the iPod and to the new focus of the music industry on hit singles. Consumers are much more likely to buy a track they know and like then buy the whole CD.

Source:
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hughjars (Inactive) 5 July 2007 16:14
Considering the amount of recycled stuff they keep trying to push I'm surpised total sales are only down 9.2%. I got my albums I even switched from vinyl to CD but no amount of repackaging - or, God help us, cr@ppy covers - is making me move from there. There is decent new music out there but the mainstream the companies server up is utterly worthless dross IMO and I'm just not buying. [ + quote]
WierdName (Senior Member) 5 July 2007 17:09
You know why? Because its actually cheaper online because its a buck a song online and about $1.50 for an actual CD. Not to mention that you can buy only the songs you want instead of paying more for everything when you really only like a couple songs. [ + quote]
windsong (Junior Member) 5 July 2007 17:58
I think it is because people are buying DVDs instead of CDs these days..lots of them. People are on a budget..even doctors and lawyers don't have limitless amounts of money. Who wants to pay 15 bucks for a soundtrack when for 10 you can get the soundtrack AND the movie on DVD? [ + quote]
borhan9 (AfterDawn Addict) 5 July 2007 18:11
This is nothing new. It happen when CD's came and took over cassettes so hence its goin to happen to CD's too. [ + quote]
MichaelP1 (Inactive) 5 July 2007 21:37
reason why CD sales are down is most newer music is shit. i mean back in the day a band say(Led Zeppelin) released an album and it was good from start to finish now few bands release albums that are good from start to finish. maybe "Dream Theater" "Tool" and a few others but thats about it. most bands have one to three good cuts on it and thats why people buy from ITunes etc. i don't buy music online i want the better sound quality so i buy the album instead of an MP3 file from the internet but I'm picky what i buy nowadays [ + quote] This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 5 July 2007 21:41
SamNz (Newbie) 6 July 2007 1:24
im still a great one for not paying for music (plz dont try change me i have no morals on the issue) yay ive helped make it drop by 9.2% and yea music today isnt that great [ + quote]
mrmarx (Newbie) 6 July 2007 3:32
yeah music isn't that great. it's cheaper online. you can buy the songs you want. and u can get them instantly, instead of driving to the store. and u can get some songs for free. [ + quote]
maryjayne (Junior Member) 6 July 2007 8:00
I guess we were right all along. The decline of CD sales was not due to piracy but due to the fact the consumers want mp3s and only a few songs off albums. If it werent for all of the lawsuits, I am sure the RIAA would be broke by now. [ + quote]
emugamer (Member) 6 July 2007 8:13
Quote: According to new data from Nielsen SoundScan, physical CD sales continue their plunge while digital sales continue to surge. Wow, what rocket scientists! We didn't see that coming. Originally posted by windsong: I think it is because people are buying DVDs instead of CDs these days..lots of them. People are on a budget..even doctors and lawyers don't have limitless amounts of money. Who wants to pay 15 bucks for a soundtrack when for 10 you can get the soundtrack AND the movie on DVD? lol....if I was a doctor or lawyer, I wouldn't bat an eye over buying something as small as a CD. There are only about 10 bands that I buy merchandise from. CD, Vinyl, DVD, etc. I believe society isn't as mindless as the RIAA wants to believe. There are a lot of people who have a specific taste and are loyal to a few bands. I've been following Pearl Jam since they first came on the scene - but I didn't buy 5 of their albums. I've been following the Red Hot Chilli Peppers since the late 80's - but I only like about 5 of their albums. Those bands are the closest to mainstream that I really get. In general, my taste is obscure and I'm extremely picky. I don't listen to the latest Nickelcrap or pop garbage, and I usually ignore Amazon when they tell me I'll like "piece 'o crap" if I like "piece 'o steak." Or "customers who bought the music you like also decided to buy this mindless dribble." But the RIAA doesn't want to know if you have a certain taste. They just want to shove worthless crap down your throat and charge for it. [ + quote] This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 6 July 2007 8:24
mikeh0303 (Senior Member) 6 July 2007 15:49
i wonder how much of that drop is due to people not paying for songs and just downloading them off limewire or torrent sites. I never buy cds [ + quote]
craftyzan (Member) 6 July 2007 17:59
Don't forget Sony. Sony shot CD sales in the foot by loading CD's with virus. That scared loyal customers by the score away from the store and to the P2P sites. [ + quote]
oofRome (Senior Member) 6 July 2007 19:24
Originally posted by craftyzan: Don't forget Sony. Sony shot CD sales in the foot by loading CD's with virus. That scared loyal customers by the score away from the store and to the P2P sites. it wasn't exactly a virus... [ + quote]
DvdView (Inactive) 6 July 2007 22:00
If nobody is going to the stores to buy cds then why is the price of gas so high...... [ + quote]
MichaelP1 (Inactive) 6 July 2007 23:33
lol, why is the price of CDs so high is more like it. they were to come down in price and it never happened [ + quote]
hermes_vb (Senior Member) 7 July 2007 9:05
Originally posted by windsong: I think it is because people are buying DVDs instead of CDs these days..lots of them. People are on a budget..even doctors and lawyers don't have limitless amounts of money. Who wants to pay 15 bucks for a soundtrack when for 10 you can get the soundtrack AND the movie on DVD? That's what I do. I usually buy the concert DVD and then rip the audio to make my own CD or export it to my iPod. [ + quote]
ematrix (Junior Member) 7 July 2007 11:39
The main reason is because consumers rather pay $1.30 for one song on iTunes than $15 or more for the actual CD containing 10+ songs which at least half of them aren't worth having. The record companies can increase Physical CD sales by lowering their prices substancially, so that promotes consumers to buy the whole album in stores at prices that matches paying for a few songs online. [ + quote]
madman91 (Junior Member) 7 July 2007 20:12
its cheaper to just download the cd illegally. .. all it costs is your bandwidth [ + quote]
hermes_vb (Senior Member) 7 July 2007 23:12
Originally posted by madman91: its cheaper to just download the cd illegally. .. all it costs is your bandwidth Well that too, but I prefer to avoid prosecution by the RIAA. I just buy them from a music club like Columbia House or BMG. That's how I acquired about 70% of the 400+ CD's I have. The rest were basically loaned by friends and ripped to my PC. [ + quote]
MichaelP1 (Inactive) 8 July 2007 0:07
yeah its not worth the chance to me to download music/movies anymore [ + quote]