• Music Sales Decline for Seventh Time in Eight Years

    Digital Downloads Can't Offset 20% Plunge in CD Sales

    Increases in digitally downloaded albums and songs were not enough to offset a nearly 20% plunge in CD sales in the U.S., according to year-end figures published Wednesday by the Nielsen Co.'s SoundScan service.

    Despite their languishing sales, CDs remain the most profitable and common medium for recorded music sales, accounting for nearly 85% of album sales. Their decline—to 360.6 million in 2008, from 449.2 million a year earlier—has hurt the four major record labels as they try to migrate to digital...

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