As fans of Clay Aiken, it is interesting and important for us to know the trends in music sales. It helps to understand more about the good, the bad, and the complicated progressions that affect all people who are trying to make their living as a recording musician.
Nielsen SoundScan just released the Official 2010 numbers for album sales. These interesting figures are for US sales only. They cover the 52- week period that ended on January 2nd, 2011. The percentages are compared to the 2009 totals.
- Albums, Overall: 326.2 million units; Down 12.7%
- Albums, Physical: 240 million; Down 19%.
- Albums, Digital: 86.3 million; Up 13%
- Digital Track Sales: 1.172 billion, Up 1%
- LP/Vinyl Sales: 2.8 million, Up 14%
The figures reinforced the idea that digital sales are becoming more popular each year. In 2010, digital formats accounted for 46% of all music purchases.
The top selling artists of 2010, based on digital track sales, were Eminem (15.7 million), Ke$ha (13.5 million), Lady Gaga (11.9 million), Katy Perry (11.8 million) and Black Eyed Peas (11.3 million); the cast of Fox’s “Glee” also sold an impressive 10.7 million tracks. That’s a lot of music.
The Nielsen organization revealed some other interesting numbers. The figures show that one-third of all music albums were purchased at big box retailers in 2010.
According to the numbers, 33% of all albums, physical or digital, came from Big Box Retailers. This category includes stores like Wal-Mart and Target, but do not include electronic stores like Best Buy.
Sales through places like the iTunes Store or Amazon MP3 accounted for 26 percent of the combined total.
One of the sad statistics showed that only 8% of albums were purchased at independent retailers. I guess that means no more Tower Records!
Many leaders in the recording industry have been predicting the demise of music albums in the near future. They foresee a time when artists release one or two songs digitally every few months throughout the year.
The flux in the music industry is certainly a problem for musicians, record labels and those fans that enjoy hearing up to date releases. It’s a difficult time for all.
Times are really changing huh. Thanks for all your research Musicfan. It's very enlightening. I guess it is hard to decide what to do in the music industry right now. I look at some of those names on the best selling list, and it amazes me that people that can't really sing sell so much… I shake my head. I guess when I want to hear someone, I want to hear their talent…As in Clay's beautiful voice. As long as Clay keeps recording his voice…I will be happy.
I know that when I come to CANN I can get the latest information about what is going on in the music industry. Thanks so much for all the research you do in order to bring us this info. I would hate to see the demise of the CD. And I can't imagine what it would be like to get only one song every few months from Clay or any other artist.
Love,love the daily quote for today.
So much interesting information. Thanks! I agree that so many of top artists cannot sing worth a darn. So, other issues are at play in their popularity. Too bad. Things have gone downhill so much over the years.
These are not very good days in the Music Industry. I agree…I don't think very much of the top sellers at all. What a bad influence on our young people. Sure glad there is still someone like Clay around who can really sing. I was reading another article on the music industry on Yahoo this morning..and all the comments were that the music out there is no good..and that is why they don't buy. Such a shame! But, I can't complain as long as Clay is still around singing to me.
Possibly Clay and Decca are considering a release of Unchained Melody as a single. That, considering his communication of two weeks ago. Just digital perhaps. Any ideas?