If there wasn't already enough evidence that the music industry is in a hurtin' state, new numbers show that the RIAA so far hasn't doled out any platinum records for this year. According to a report (such as this one), no album has sold more than a million copies in the U.S. in the last three months, the number needed for platinum status. And in fact, only 39 releases reached sales over 25,000 units.
Along with the lack of any platinum releases, quarterly stats show that CD sales in general are continuing to nosedive and have already dropped 20.3 percent compared to this time last year. On the digital side of things, album sales in the first quarter rose 23 percent to 19.3 million from 15.7 million, while single digital track sales were up 17 percent to 329.5 million from 281.4 million last year. However, those gains are not enough to make up for the lost CD sales. Oh, and this isn't just some major label problem: indie album sales dropped to 13.7 percent from the 14.1 percent they had last year.
Happy Friday!
Along with the lack of any platinum releases, quarterly stats show that CD sales in general are continuing to nosedive and have already dropped 20.3 percent compared to this time last year. On the digital side of things, album sales in the first quarter rose 23 percent to 19.3 million from 15.7 million, while single digital track sales were up 17 percent to 329.5 million from 281.4 million last year. However, those gains are not enough to make up for the lost CD sales. Oh, and this isn't just some major label problem: indie album sales dropped to 13.7 percent from the 14.1 percent they had last year.
Happy Friday!
