The U.S. CD sales rose by 2.3% in 2004 which is the first rise it has seen in years. This boost of CD sales comes even as legal music download stores are gaining popularity. CD's still count for 98% of all album sales according to Research Company Nielsen Soundscan. 666 million albums were sold in 2004. 140 million digital tracks were downloaded also. R&B star Usher was the biggest-selling artist with his album Confessions selling eight million copies alone. Other top sellers of the year were Norah Jones, Eminem and country stars Kenny Chesney and Gretchen Wilson. The U.S. recording industry has been hammering on Internet piracy which it blames for the loss in sales over the last few years.
It seems that more users are being persuaded to use the legal options such as iTunes and Napster, even though they have all sorts of DRM protections that limit the freedom you have in the music's use. Downloads of whole albums has been calculated at 5.5 million copies, with rock band Hoobastank one of the most popular choices. Nielsen Soundscan said the fastest growing music genres were Latin and country.
Source:
BBC News
Source:
BBC News
