US annual albums market up for first time since 2004

The US albums market grew annually last year for the first time since 2004 with newly-published figures revealing a 1.4% increase to 330.6 million units.

While CD sales were down by around 6%, Nielsen SoundScan Data reveals the digital albums sector rose in the year by 19.5% to 103.1 million units. That means downloads made up 31.2% of all album sales during the year.

As expected, Adele claims both the year’s top-selling single and album with Rolling In The Deep leading the singles market with 5.8 million downloads sold and 21 finishing as the top-selling album after also shifting 5.8 million copies, the highest tally for any album in a calendar year since Usher’s Confessions had nearly 8 million takers in 2004. Adele’s album was also the year’s top digital seller having been downloaded legally 1.8 million times.

Fellow Brits Mumford & Sons are also among the year’s top album sellers with Sigh No More ranking in sixth place after selling 1.4 million copies during 2011. As in the UK, Michael Buble’s Christmas is runner-up to Adele as the US’s number two of 2011 with 2.5 million sales, while Lady Gaga’s Born This Way is third after selling 2.10 million copies, Lil Wayne’s Tha Carter IV fourth (1.9 million) and Jason Aldean’s My Kinda Party fifth (1.6 million). Titles by Justin Bieber, Jay-Z & Kanye West and Lady Antebellum are also in the year-end Top 10.

Behind Rolling In The Deep, LMFAO featuring Lauren Benett and GoonRock’s Party Rock Anthem is the year’s second biggest single with 5.5 million units sold, while Katy Perry’s E.T. is third after shifting 4.8 million copies. They helped the US singles market grow by 8.5% from 1.17 billion to a new high of 1.27 billion.

Source: Music Week