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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.

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