Skip to main content

Traditional Music Album Sales Slide Again

According to the Hollywood Reporter, a sluggish release schedule during the past three months has led to a major crash in album sales so far this year. That opinion is based upon research figures presented at the National Association of Recording Merchandisers convention.

The sobering numbers were shared at a session conducted by Rob Sisco, president of Nielsen Music, and Chris Muratore, director of retail relations and research services for Nielsen Entertainment. Nielsen is a sister company of The Hollywood Reporter.

The research executives noted that album sales declined 1.7 percent during the first four months of this year However, from May to July, album sales plummeted 10 percent, culminating two weeks ago in the lowest week for total album sales (8.9 million) since January 1994 and the second-worst total since Nielsen SoundScan began tracking sales in 1991.

Popular posts from this blog

How Online Video Exceeded Pay-TV Revenue

The global streaming industry has spent the better part of a decade chasing subscriber counts as the primary metric of success. That era is now formally over. New market data from Omdia confirms that the industry has crossed a decisive threshold; one that shifts the competitive playing field from growth-at-all-costs to monetization discipline. For senior executives navigating media, advertising, and technology strategy, the implications extend well beyond entertainment. A Historic Revenue Crossover Online video revenue increased 13.5 percent to $176 billion in 2025, while pay-TV revenue declined 4 percent to $170 billion; marking the first time in the industry's history that streaming has surpassed legacy pay-TV in revenue terms. This is not a rounding error or a statistical artifact; it represents the culmination of more than a decade of structural disruption to the traditional broadcast and cable TV model. Global subscriptions to online video services reached 2.24 billion by the ...