US digital tracks down 12.9% in year-to-date, digital albums slip 11.5%

Digital track sales in the US were down by 12.9% in the first nine months of 2014 compared to the same period in 2013, while digital albums slipped 11.5%. Digital track sales over the first nine months of the year stood at 848.5 million compared to 974.6 million over the same period in 2013. Digital album sales stood at 77.6 million compared to 87.8 million.

CD sales slipped by 18.9% to 91.7 million from 113.1 million, leaving the albums market overall down by 14.4% YoY.

The only positive in the US album market in 2014 so far is vinyl, which is up 47.5%  YoY thanks to sales of 6.074 million. That’s up from 4.12 million over the same period last year.

Billboard points out that not a single artist album has reached a million sales in the US so far in 2014. By the end of Q3 2013, five albums had surpassed the milestone.

Meanwhile, only 60 digital songs have managed to reach the landmark compared to 83 by the end of Q3 last year.

The official soundtrack to Disney’s hit movie Frozen is 2014’s best-seller so far in the US, boasting 3.12 million units.

Beyoncé’s self-titled surprise 2013 release is this year’s best-selling artist album to date with 776,000 units shifted, while Pharrell’s Happy is the best-selling track so far with 6.2 million sales.

Source: Music Week