The music industry in America has announced a rise in music sales during 2011 – the first rise since 2004. This increase in music sales, confirmed in figures released by Nielsen Soundscan, owes a significant amount to the US-success of British singer Adele. Her second album, entitled 21, which has won a number of awards, sold 5.8 million copies throughout 2011, putting it well in front of other major sellers such as Lady Gaga and Michael Buble.
This overall increase in sales figures was largely down to the purchasing of CD copies, which continued to prove the favoured format of the majority. Confirmation that CDs outsold digital copies by 2:1 will be a significant boost, not only for the music industry, which has been struggling to compete with downloading websites, but also for related industries – such as the manufacturers of CD copying services. Now CD duplication companies in the UK will be hoping that the appeal of artists such as Adele, to those preferring physical music formats will translate to the UK during 2012.
There is already some evidence to suggest that this may be the case as, although there was an overall drop in music sales in the UK during 2011, CDs outsold digital music by over three times – an even greater disparity than in the US, ensuring that British CD duplication companies remained busy throughout the year. Once more Adele proved to be the top selling artist, shifting 3.8 million digital and CD copies of her album.