Here are some facts and figures, via Nielsen Soundscan, on the year 2009 in music:

1. More vinyl albums were purchased (2.5 million) than any other year in the history of Nielsen SoundScan (since 1991).
2. Music purchases in 2009 reached the 1.5 Billion mark, making it the fifth consecutive year music sales have exceeded 1 billion.
3. Michael Jackson was the biggest selling artist in 2009, with more than 8.2 million album sales.
4. The Beatles were the biggest selling group, with 3.3 million album sales.
5. Lady Gaga was the biggest selling digital artist in 2009, with more than 15 million track sales.
6. Four artists sold more than ten million tracks: Lady Gaga, Black Eyed Peas, Michael Jackson and Taylor Swift. It was the first year that an artist broke ten million track sales.
7. Digital music accounts for 40% of all music purchases in 2009; up from 32% in 2008.
8. 2009 is the first time a digital song broke the four million sales mark in a single year. There were four songs that achieved this milestone; Black Eyed Peas’ “Boom Boom Pow” and “I Got A Feeling”, Lady Gaga’s “Poker Face” and Flo Rida’s “Right Round”.
9. Digital album sales accounted for 20% of total album sales in 2009, compared to 15% in 2008.
10. Non-traditional outlets (Internet retailers and non-traditional retailers such as Starbucks) accounted for nearly 30% of all album sales, compared to 25% in 2008, and 5% as recently as 2004.

Link:

• Data via Nielsen Soundscan

Image: barrilete_eléctrico

James Lewin
Twitter @podcasting_news

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