CD Sales Continue To Decline

According to Digital Music News,  "Album sales in the US remained soft last week, heightening fears of another bearish fourth quarter. Approximately 10.4 million units were shipped during the most recent period, a drop of 3.1 percent over the comparable period in 2004. Overall, cumulative units sold this year edged upward to 396 million, an 8.5 percent deficit over the same total at this point last year."

"Meanwhile, 2004 itself was a mediocre sales year, despite a strong start in the first and second quarters. Chart-toppers last week included Paul Wall, Kanye West, and Switchfoot, which recently created a major stink over copy-protections on its latest CD release (see Hypebot story below)…"