Report Nielsen and Billboard’s annual report, released on Friday, 4, reveals that the sale of digital music has dominated the North American market.
Altogether, electronic media accounted for 55.9% of music sales in the USA.
It is the first time that this has happened. Together, iTunes, Amazon, eMusic and other online stores accounted for 37% of sales. Large physical retailers, such as Walmart and Target, which dominated this market for the past five years, in 2012 accounted for only 29% of the market.
In total, music purchases grew 3.1% compared to 2011. The number was driven by the trade in individual songs, as sales of albums and equivalents fell 1.8% compared to the previous year.
In 2012, 193 million physical CDs were sold – representing a 13.5% drop compared to 2011. Digital disks sold 118 million – an increase of 14%, compared to the previous year.
The best-selling digital album was 21, by Adele, followed by Red (Taylor Swift), Babel (Mumford & Sons), Up All Night (One Direction) and Some Nights (Fun).
Music Amazon iTunes