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Digital Music Sales Closing In On CDs

The majority of music sales still come from CDs, but digital music sales are making up an ever- greater share of the U.S. market, according to NPD MusicWatch. CDs accounted for 65 percent of all music sold in the first half of 2009 compared to paid digital downloads, which comprised 35 percent of music sales. By comparison, paid digital music made up 20 percent of sales in 2007 growing to 30 percent of the music market last year.

Digital Music Sales Up 25 Percent

The digital music business saw solid global expansion in 2008, growing by an estimated 25 percent to $3.7 billion, according to a report from the industry trade group IFPI.Digital platforms now account for around 20 percent of recorded music sales, up from 15 percent in 2007. Despite this the music industry is still plagued by large amounts of unlicensed music distributed online. The IFPI estimates over 40 billion files were illegally shared in 2008, giving piracy a rate of about 95 percent.

Digital Music Sales Reach New High In Canada

Sales of digital music in Canada increased in 2008, but were not enough to make up for the loss of physical album sales, according to Nielsen SoundScan Canada.Overall album sales declined 8.5 percent compared to 2007, which shows that the digital growth did not offset the decline in physical sales during the year.More than 40 million digital tracks were purchased in 2008 representing an increase of nearly 60 percent over 2007 compared to a 73 percent increase in 2007 over 2006.

New Digital Music Service To Help Fight Aids In Africa

(RED), the nonprofit organisation co-founded by Bono, is starting a new digital music service (via NYT) in September that will contribute a share of profits to

Room At The Top: Google CIO Exits

Douglas Merrill said farewell to the best job in the world, as he opted for a position with music label EMI.

Michael Jackson's Label Denies Beatles, iTunes Deal

Forget about The Beatles hitting the iTunes Music Store anytime soon, as the Jackson/Sony publishing company Sony/ATV dismissed the chatter coming from England trumpeting a deal.

Digital Music Revenue To Reach $5 Billion

At the end of 2007 digital music revenue in the U.S. grew to $1.98 billion and will reach $5.34 billion by 2012, according to a new report from the Yankee Group, "US Digital Music Forecast: What Fate Awaits Record Labels?"

Digital Music Sales Up 45%

Total overall music purchases were up in 2007, while album sales continued their decline according to Nielsen SoundScan's year-end sales figures.

Can Digital Sales Save The Music Industry?

Digital music spending in the U.S. will comprise over a third of consumer music purchases by 2012, but will not make up for lost CD sales during that time according to a new report from JupiterResearch, "US Music Forecast, 2007-2012."

Napster Founder's Snocap Melts

Shawn Fanning's post-Napster endeavor has fared poorly, with layoffs and "For Sale" signs the order of the day.