Digital Sales Up; CD Sales Decline At Universal

In what should not come as a surprise to anyone who has been paying attention, Digital Music News reports that "digital sales increased during the most recent quarter at Universal Music Group (UMG), though CD sales remained soft. The leading label reported $79.1 million in digital sales, which accounted for 6 percent of overall revenues…"

"UMG also offered results for the first nine months of the year. During that period, digital sales reached $200.8 million, a 5.3 percent chunk of the company’s $3.79 billion revenue purse. UMG reported “strong growth” in North America, Europe, and Australia, but saw market weakness in Asia….Total albums sales across all labels in the United States dropped 10.4 percent during the period, though UMG was able to eek out a 0.1 percent increase. Universal Music finished the period with a commanding 31.7 percent marketshare in the US."