Hey, this is about as good as it gets on the recording side right now . According to first-quarter, US-based stats published by Nielsen Soundscan, album sales declined a 'mere' 5 percentduring the first quarter (January through March). That figure aggregates physical and digital formats. Specifically, album sales landed at 77.8 million units, which compares favorably to year-2010 drops of 12.7 percent.
Sounds like some oxygen, though picking apart the formats reveals some familiar danger signs. CDs dropped a less-catastrophic 12.8 percent during the quarter, which is certainly better than declines of 19.7 percent for last year. But anytime a double-digit decline represents an improvement, you know you're in trouble.
The story on digital albums remains shaky. On the period, digital albums gained a double-digit 14.9% to 25.1 million units, which compares to a 16 percent bump for the same period last year. The broader gain in 2010 was 13 percent.
Sounds like some oxygen, though picking apart the formats reveals some familiar danger signs. CDs dropped a less-catastrophic 12.8 percent during the quarter, which is certainly better than declines of 19.7 percent for last year. But anytime a double-digit decline represents an improvement, you know you're in trouble.
The story on digital albums remains shaky. On the period, digital albums gained a double-digit 14.9% to 25.1 million units, which compares to a 16 percent bump for the same period last year. The broader gain in 2010 was 13 percent.
