[JPL] U.S. Album Sales Fell 15% in First Half on CD Decline

[Doug Crane]

U.S. Album Sales Fell 15% in First Half on CD Decline

By Don Jeffrey

July 5 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. album sales fell 15 percent in the first 
half of this year as an increase in sales of downloaded music failed 
to make up for a continued decline in compact discs.

Retailers sold 229.8 million albums in the six months ended July 1, 
researcher Nielsen SoundScan said in an e-mailed statement yesterday. 
Vivendi SA's Universal Music Group remained the U.S. market share 
leader with 34 percent of new-album sales.

Sales of full-length compact discs fell 19 percent in the first half 
to 205.7 million, while sales of digital albums rose 60 percent to 
23.5 million. Illegal downloading and sharing of recordings has cut 
into music revenue.

The best-selling album this year so far has been ``American Idol'' 
alumnus Daughtry's self-titled release, which has sold 1.7 million 
units in the U.S. Daughtry records for Sony BMG Music Entertainment's 
RCA label. Sony BMG is a joint venture of Sony Corp. and Bertelsmann AG.

Sony BMG, the world's second-largest record company after Universal, 
was second in new-album market share in the U.S. at 25 percent. 
Warner Music Group Corp., the world's fourth largest, was third in 
the U.S. at 19 percent. EMI Group Plc was last among major record 
companies in the U.S. with a 9 percent share.

Sales of digital tracks rose 49 percent in the six months to 417.3 
million. The top song was Gwen Stefani's ``Sweet Escape,'' selling 
1.8 million copies. She records for Universal's Interscope label.