Record Sales Dip At Midyear

Album sales had a slower start this year compared with the first six months of 2005, according to Nielsen SoundScan, but there is a significant increase in digital sales.

Album sales for January 2nd to July 2nd of this year were down 4.2 percent, but Nielsen SoundScan expects overall music purchases to break 1 billion in sales by year end. The plateau was accomplished for the first time last year. Meanwhile, digital sales climbed more than 77 percent from 2005 with more than 280 million single tracks sold.

The big winner was kids’ music. The soundtrack for popular kids’ TV movie “High School Musical” topped all with more than 2.6 million units sold. The top digital album was Jack Johnson‘s Curious George, which could debatably be classified as kids’ music only because it’s the soundtrack for the popular children’s movie.

Rascal Flatts was a big winner in overall and digital sales with the second-highest selling album, Me and My Gang. James Blunt got third place, Mary J. Blige fourth and Carrie Underwood fifth. Rounding out the top 10 were the Now 21 compilation, T.I.‘s King, Dixie Chicks‘ Taking the Long Way and albums by Andrea Bocelli and Nickelback.

Popular digital albums include releases by The Fray, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Panic! At the Disco, KT Tunstall, and Gnarls Barkley. The best-selling digital track was Daniel Powter‘s “Bad Day,” the popular farewell tune on “American Idol.” Songs by Sean Paul, Natasha Bedingfield and Chamillionaire were popular downloads, as was Shakira‘s “Hips Don’t Lie.”

Alternative music sales were down 15 percent the first six months of this year compared with January-June of last year. Country music sales climbed nearly 18 percent.