State of the Music Industry 2010
by Alex Cosper (1/14/2011)
The music industry continued it sales slide in 2010. Billboard reported Nielsen SoundScan figures
showing U.S. album sales declined 12.8% from the previous year. Overall CD sales dropped 20%. In
recent years digital downloads were a bright spot for the music industry but downloads only posted
slight gains. Eminem's Recovery sold 3.4 million units, making it the year's top selling
album while the top single was Katy Perry's "California Gurls," selling over 4 million units.
Universal Music Group remained the top label followed by Sony Music Entertainment, Warner Music
Group and EMI. By the end of the year AllAccess.com reported that EMI was in deep
financial trouble, despite a landmark year for the Beatles, which finally became available on
iTunes. The band sold two million downloads its first week. Only 13 albums sold more than a million
units, which was down from 22 albums the previous year.
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