More music bought; album sales down

Americans bought more music in 2008 than ever before, but album sales – the music industry’s main source of revenue – dropped for a fourth year.

According to the Nielsen Co.’s year-end figures, music purchases – albums (CD, vinyl, cassette and digital purchases of entire albums), digital track downloads, singles and music videos – attained a new high of 1.5 billion, up 10.5 percent over 2007.

More than 70 percent of those transactions were digital track downloads – a record total of 1.07 billion, which swamped 2007’s previous high of 844.2 million by 27 percent.

Total album sales in 2008 dropped to 428.4 million – 14 percent fewer than in 2007 – and have fallen 45 percent since 2000.

Music purchases are “astronomically high,” says Rob Sisco, Nielsen’s president of music, “but it’s a marketplace in transition from physical to digital.”

Among the year’s other highlights:

•Leona Lewis’ “Bleeding Love” was the top-selling digital song with 3.42 million downloads, followed by Lil Wayne’s “Lollipop,” Flo Rida’s “Low,” Katy Perry’s “I Kissed a Girl” and Coldplay’s “Viva la Vida.”

•Lil Wayne’s “Tha Carter III” was the No. 1 album, selling 2.87 million copies. Coldplay’s “Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends,” Taylor Swift’s “Fearless” and Kid Rock’s “Rock ’n’ Roll Jesus” were the only other albums to sell 2 million in 2008, compared with eight in 2007.

•Vinyl sales hit a 17-year high in 2008 with 1.88 million, up dramatically from just under a million in 2007. Radiohead’s “In Rainbows” was the top vinyl seller with 25,800 copies.