Happy Old Year! Record Sales Increase In 2011

Adele -- 2011's Biggest Seller

After consecutive years of sales declines, 2012 may just be the year that the record business sees an actual uptick in sales. REUTERS reports on SOUNDSCAN data that shows -- even with a couple days left in the year -- a 1% increase in album sales and over a 3% increase in overall music sales.

While to most industries, a 1% increase translates to an essentially flat business year, that number looks positively delightful compared to 2010, when album sales fell 13%, and that sales averaged an 8% drop every year in the 2000s.

What artists were responsible for helping the industry enjoy the glad tidings?  ADELE's 21 is nearing six million in sales, the most by any album since USHER's Confessions in 2004. Plus, MICHAEL BUBLE's holiday album sold almost two million records, almost double the number of JUSTIN BIEBER's CHRISTMAS effort.

LADY GAGA is expected to end up with the third best-selling album of the year, but some observers believe its numbers are inflated by massive first-week sales that were goosed by a 99-cent sale on AMAZON.COM.

REUTERS also reports that digital sales are expected to end 2011 close to 10% higher. Why physical albums still outsell digital albums by a two-to-one margin. But total music sales, which would include digital singles, are now split 50-50 between physical and digital.

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