Music streaming is on the up, but album sales are devastatingly down. In fact, album sales in the U.S. are worse than they’ve been in over a decade — and streaming could be largely to blame.
A current snapshot music sales comes with Drake’s Scorpion. The album just set the bar remarkably high in terms music streaming, shattering the one-week record with over . To put this into perspective, Post Malone previously held the title with 700 million global streams for his latest record Beerbongs & Bentleys.
However, as far as album sales go, only 29,000 copies Scorpion were sold during the week July 12th. According to Nielsen, that is the smallest amount sales that a No. 1, top-selling album has made since 1991. Most which have been made through digital downloads including iTunes and Amazon Music, not physical copies.
It’s not just Drake. , album sales are plummeting, too. Sales through 2018 so far accumulate to 72.73 million, down 17% compared to this time last year. CD sales are down by 19% and even digital album sales are taking a huge hit, down 21% ( ).
Music listening habits may be changing, but it’s important to support your favorite artists no matter what — whether you choose to stream or buy.
Source: