Overall Music Sales Increase by 2.1% In 2009 to 1.54 Billion Units

Why have music sales increased, then? We say that is almost wholly due to the web and the flexibility it provides. Music listeners are no longer spoon-fed whatever the labels say should be bought. Everyone can research and find music to their own taste, free of marketing hype and tedious repeat playlists of old-school music journalists and antiquated radio stations.

There have been millions of column inches - in print and on the web - about the "terrible" state of the music industry, along with high-profile claims:
-- accusations of piracy "destroying" the music industry
-- hand-wringing that the global recession will send music companies to the wall
-- old media saying online services like Google are plagiarists

Therefore the year-end figures for sales in the US from Nielsen SoundScan are a refreshing change of message. So while the mix of what sells has changed, overall sales are up.

The 2009 figures include sales of CDs, cassettes, LPs, digital albums and music videos, up 2.1 percent to a total of 1.54 billion units for the year. The big gains were "new media":
-- digital album sales gained 16.1%
-- digital track sales climbed 8.3%
-- 1.1 billion digital tracks were sold in total
-- digital-to-vinyl LP sales grew 33% to 2.5 million

Our exclusive chart of the big sellers of the year presents a graphic example of how the industry has changed:

((chart image))

Michael Jackson's Number Ones sold 2.3 million copies while his back catalog surged into the charts following his death, giving Jackson the number one spot for the year. The Beatles also made a big impression with a back catalog, selling 3.3 million for the year. One could say "old music" about both, but clearly also great music which the public have responded to so favourably.

The talent of the new stars in the music world - in other words, the girls - took the other three places in the top five albums of the year. Taylor Swift continues her meteoric rise in popularity, Lady GaGa cements her place as the hottest new star, while Susan Boyledid destroy the over-hyped acts being promoted by the music companies, but in the nicest possible way!