Music Sales Falter As CD Sales Continue To Fall; Digital Sales Double Worldwide In First Half Of '06

Recorded music sales in the U.S. fell 6.1% in the first half of 2006, led by a 14% drop in CD sales, reports BLOOMBERG. Furthermore, according to numbers furnished by the RIAA, the estimated retail value of the shipments in the first six months of this year was $4.1 billion, a 15% decrease from the same period last year.

About 435 million albums, including downloads, were sold in the U.S. in the first 9 months of 2006, down from about 439 million in the same period in 2005, according to NIELSEN SOUNDSCAN.

These declines outweighed an 86.6% jump in digital sales, which, worldwide, more than doubled in the first half of the year to $945 million, reports the IFPI. Digital sales now account for 11% of the total recorded music market.

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