The good news comes from NARM president Jim Donio, who shared the latest sales figures with Digital Music News on Wednesday evening. These are US-based, year-over-year figures, calculatedby Nielsen Soundscan, and they just keep getting better.
Now, the question is whether this spills into the all-important holiday season. In other words, can this last? “This is the 18th week in a row where year-to-date album volume is greater than the prior year," Donio relayed. “With the holiday season fast approaching, all signs point to that growth continuing going forward."
And what about revenues? The 3.4 percent figure only refers to cumulative, full album purchases, of any configuration, without associated price points. That means digital, physical, CD, LP, whatever, all counted as one discrete unit. On the a-la-carte side, year-over-year gains stand at 11 percent.
The bad apple, of course, is physical. Now, the hope is that plummeting CDs finally calm down and bottom out, while digital helps to establish some sort of floor. Already, there's some talk of increased confidence at major labels, with the massive advertising increase at Universal Music Group one possible reaction.
And with that, let the critical fourth quarter begin...
Now, the question is whether this spills into the all-important holiday season. In other words, can this last? “This is the 18th week in a row where year-to-date album volume is greater than the prior year," Donio relayed. “With the holiday season fast approaching, all signs point to that growth continuing going forward."
And what about revenues? The 3.4 percent figure only refers to cumulative, full album purchases, of any configuration, without associated price points. That means digital, physical, CD, LP, whatever, all counted as one discrete unit. On the a-la-carte side, year-over-year gains stand at 11 percent.
The bad apple, of course, is physical. Now, the hope is that plummeting CDs finally calm down and bottom out, while digital helps to establish some sort of floor. Already, there's some talk of increased confidence at major labels, with the massive advertising increase at Universal Music Group one possible reaction.
And with that, let the critical fourth quarter begin...
