1Q Album Sales Dip 17 Percent

There’s more gloom and doom for the recording industry thanks to a 17 percent decline in album sales during the first quarter, according to Bloomberg News.

The news service cited a reported 47 percent increase in illegal downloads in 2006 as one reason for the downturn.

Nielsen SoundScan says the news isn’t all bad, though. Consumer music purchase decisions are up 19 percent this year and SoundScan says that’s the statistic worth noting.

Consumers have made more than 46 million additional music purchase decisions this year than last year, including all album and individual digital track sales.