Data Monday: Music Sales

by August 31, 2009

Some recent numbers on digital and physical music sales.

  • CDs comprised 65 percent of all music sold in the first half of 2009 compared to paid digital downloads, which comprised 35 percent of music sales. (source)
  • Digital music sales are growing at 15 to 20 percent, and CDs falling by an equal proportion, so digital music sales will nearly equal CD sales by the end of 2010. (source)
  • Apple iTunes leads in the U.S. with 25 percent of music units sold, which is up from 21 percent in 2008 and 14 percent in 2007. (source)
  • Consumer downloads from iTunes comprised 69 percent of the digital music market in the first half of 2009, followed by AmazonMP3 at 8 percent. (source)
  • An ignored aspect of digital music distribution is music piracy. Industry experts have estimated that piracy would likely account between 15 to 25% of music consumption if they were factored into overall music sales. (source)