Nielsen-Soundscan 2010 Year-End Data

[ListenToItTwice]

www.billboard.com/#/news/u-s-album-sales-fall-12-8-in-2010-digital-1004137859.story

As expected, the year-end Nielsen SoundScan numbers once again tell a tale of an industry in turmoil.

There were a few bright spots, but 2010 was mostly about diminishing returns. During the 52 weeks ended Jan. 2, album sales in the United States fell 12.8% to 326.2 million units from 373.9 million units in the prior year, as the sales of CDs fell by nearly 20% for the fourth year in a row.

In the digital realm, growth in individual track sales continued to slow, barely managing to eke out a 1% increase, as sales reached 1.17 billion units, versus 1.16 billion in 2009.

Digital album downloads fared better, posting 13% growth to 86.3 million from the 76.4 million scanned during 2009, accounting for nearly 26.5% of all U.S. album sales last year, according to SoundScan.

The Year in Music 2010: Main Page

Combined U.S. sales of albums and track-equivalent albums (or TEA, where 10 tracks equals one album) fell 9.5% for the year to 443.4 million units from 2009's 489.8 million units, according to SoundScan.

For the first time in the digital era, overall music unit sales -- which count each sale of an album, digital track and music video as one unit -- fell 2.4% to 1.51 billion units from the 1.55 billion units in 2009.

On a positive note, five tracks topped 4 million units in 2010 (versus four songs in 2009), while another seven songs scanned more than 3 million each, versus three in the previous year. However, 2010 only produced 86 songs overall that each scanned 1 million units or better, three less than the 89 that accomplished that feat in the prior year.

The top-selling song, Katy Perry's "California Gurls," scanned nearly 4.4 million units last year, which in 2009 would have ranked third behind the Black Eyed Peas' "Boom Boom Pow," which tallied 4.8 million tracks, and the group's "I Gotta Feeling," which garnered nearly 4.43 million units.

In another telling sign about the nearly static track-download market, the single highest-scanning week since the advent of downloads remains the 47.7 million units scanned in the week ending Dec. 28, 2008. In fact, 2010's single-week track scan peak of nearly 44 million units didn't even beat out the best track week in 2009, which was nearly 44.8 million units in the week ending Dec. 27 of that year.

Album sales continued to decline, hurt by downloading at unauthorized peer-to-peer networks and shrinking shelf space at fewer brick-and-mortar retail outlets. For the year, only 13 albums managed to scan more than 1 million units, with the best-selling title being the 3.4 million units scanned by Eminem's "Recovery." That represents a new low in the SoundScan era -- even worse than 2009, when only 22 albums scanned a million units apiece.

In a reversal of a trend, catalog albums (titles more than 18 months old that don't meet any of the other current-title qualifications) were the drag on album sales, falling 15.3% to 138.9 million units from 163.9 million scans in 2009. Current albums (those recorded in the first 18 months that stay in the top half of the Billboard 200 or are active at radio) declined 10.8% to 187.3 million units, from 209.9 million units in the prior year. In the five prior years, catalog albums had outperformed current album sales.

Finally, Universal Music Group remains the perennial market-share leader. For the year, it garnered 31.4% market share in albums (including track-equivalent ones), beating out Sony Music Entertainment's 27.4% slice and Warner Music Group's 19.8% performance. EMI finished fourth with 9.6%, while the indie sector collectively garnered 11.6%. However that total doesn't take into account independent labels that are distributed by major-label-owned indie distributors.

[microcuts]

I wonder if at least vinyl purchases are still on the upswing.

[ListenToItTwice]

Jan 5, 2011 14:54:11 GMT -5 microcuts said:

I wonder if at least vinyl purchases are still on the upswing.

Yes that'll certainly be interesting to see once we get the full report.

I'm most excited to see the top 10 digital singles artists of the year, and of the digital era.

[ListenToItTwice]

We're just a little bit closer to having all the data:

www.billboard.com/#/news/eminem-s-recovery-is-2010’s-best-1004137895.story

Eminem's comeback reached another landmark today, as his "Recovery" LP was officially confirmed as the United States' best-selling album of 2010, with 3.42 million copies sold, according to Nielsen SoundScan. The MC had previously nabbed the top-selling album of the year in 2002, when "The Eminem Show" moved 7.61 million.

It's the first time since SoundScan began tracking music sales in 1991 that an act has copped the top-selling album in more than one year.

"Recovery" is the biggest-selling album of a year since 2007, when Josh Groban's "Noel" sold 3.70 million. In 2009, Taylor Swift's "Fearless" was tops with 3.22 million, and in 2008, Lil Wayne's "Tha Carter III" reigned with 2.87 million.

"Recovery" made big news when it arrived on the Billboard 200 chart at No. 1 back on July 10, 2010. It was Em's sixth chart-topper (and sixth No. 1 in a row) and launched with 741,000 copies in its first week. At that point, it was biggest single-sales week of the year for an album, although that feat that would later be broken by the arrival of Taylor Swift's "Speak Now," which shifted 1.05 million when it exploded at No. 1 on the Nov. 13, 2010, chart.

SLIDESHOW: SEE THE 10 BEST-SELLING ALBUMS OF 2010

Speaking of "Speak Now," after only 10 weeks in release, the set finishes 2010 as the third-best seller of the year with 2.96 million. It stands behind Lady Antebellum's "Need You Now," which is No. 2 with 3.09 million.

Even with the comparatively late release date of "Speak Now," Swift is also 2010's best-selling act in terms of overall albums, with 4.47 million sold. She's just ahead of Eminem, who shifted 4.32 million last year.

Swift is no stranger to the year-end top 10-selling albums tally, as she's placed a set among the 10 biggest albums every year since the 2007 recap. That year, her self-titled album was the ninth-biggest seller, with 1.95 million. In 2008, it was the No. 6 best, with 1.60 million. And, as earlier mentioned, Swift's "Fearless" was 2009's biggest album.

U.S. Album Sales Fall 12.8% in 2010, Digital Tracks Eke Out 1% Gain

At No. 4 on 2010's year-end best-selling albums list is Justin Bieber's "My World 2.0" (2.32 million), followed by Susan Boyle's "The Gift" (No. 5; 1.85 million), Lady Gaga's "The Fame" (No. 6; 1.59 million), Sade's "Soldier of Love" (No. 7; 1.30 million), Drake's "Thank Me Later" (No. 8; 1.27 million), Usher's "Raymond v. Raymond" (No. 9; 1.18 million) and Ke$ha's "Animal" (No. 10; 1.14 million).

All of 2010's top 10 albums were released in 2010, except for Lady Gaga's "The Fame," which was originally issued on Oct. 28, 2008. It ranked No. 4 for 2009 with 2.24 million and No. 6 in 2010, in a rather complicated situation: Gaga's "The Fame Monster" EP, released on Nov. 24, 2009, came in at No. 21 for '10. But, sales of the deluxe edition of "The Fame" (which include the "Monster" EP) were counted toward the older album, which certainly contributed to its sustained sales in '10.

That situation may have made the album the only one of 2010's top 10 not to reach the No. 1 spot on the Billboard 200. It peaked at No. 2 on the Jan. 16, 2010, chart.

2010 in Music: The Year That Went Pop

During the 52 weeks ended Jan. 2, album sales in the U.S. fell 12.8% to 326.2 million units from 373.9 million units in the prior year, as the sales of CDs fell by nearly 20% for the fourth year in a row. Digital album downloads fared better, posting 13% growth to 86.3 million from the 76.4 million scanned during 2009, accounting for nearly 26.5% of all U.S. album sales last year, according to SoundScan. (The top-selling digital album of '10 was also Eminem's "Recovery," with 852,000 downloads.)

While Katy Perry's "Teenage Dream" album finishes 2010 as the 14th biggest-selling overall album (997,000), she does claim the top-selling digital song of the year, as her former Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 "California Gurls" moved 4.40 million downloads. Perry has three of the 40 top-selling songs of last year, as "Teenage Dream" is No. 12 (3.01 million) and "Firework" is No. 28 (2.33 million).

In total, five songs cleared the 4 million sales mark in 2010, up from four that did it in 2009. On the 2010 list, "Gurls" is followed by Train's "Hey, Soul Sister" (4.31 million), Eminem's "Love the Way You Lie" (featuring Rihanna, 4.25 million), Taio Cruz's "Dynamite" (4.08 million) and B.o.B's "Airplanes" (featuring Hayley Williams, 4.00 million).

The year-end sales totals for "Gurls" are off a bit from the champ of 2009, the Black Eyed Peas' "Boom Boom Pow," which sold 4.76 million that year.
SLIDESHOW: SEE THE TOP 10 DIGITAL SONGS OF 2010

A pair of acts double up in the top 10 digital songs tally, as both Eminem and Taio Cruz place titles in the region. Em owns the No. 3 slot with "Lie" in addition to the No. 7 placing with "Not Afraid" (3.41 million). Cruz does it with "Dynamite" at No. 4 as well as "Break Your Heart" (featuring Ludacris) at No. 9, with 3.25 million).

As for the rest of the year's top 10-selling songs, Usher's "OMG" (featuring will.i.am) is No. 7 with 3.76 million, Bruno Mars' "Just the Way You Are" is No. 8 with 3.28 million and Lady Antebellum's "Need You Now" is No. 10 with 3.18 million.

Overall digital song sales grew 1% in 2010 as sales increased to 1.17 billion downloads last year, compared with 2009's 1.16 billion.

(additional reporting by Ed Christman)

[Rodze]

All top 10 digital songs above 3 million (possibly more). Last year only the top 8 was above 3 million.

The top songs selling more and more while the overall number remains about the same.

[ListenToItTwice]

Jan 5, 2011 17:40:03 GMT -5 Rodze said:

All top 10 digital songs above 3 million (possibly more). Last year only the top 8 was above 3 million.

At least 12, actually. The article mentions that "Teenage Dream" is the #12 song of the year with 3.01 million in sales. Impressive indeed.


Congratulations to Taylor Swift for being the biggest album seller of 2010, with 4.47 million total sales! That's about 630,000 sales IN ADDITION TO Speak Now and Fearless The Holiday EP and her debut are still selling in amazing quantities.

[slicknickshady]

Congrats to Eminem aka Slim Shady aka Marshall Mathers III.

[Rodze]

www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/industry/retail/vinyl-posts-14-sales-gain-in-2010-1004137891.story

Vynil Albums: 2.8 million (+14%)

Top 3 albums:
1. Abbey Road - The Beatles - 35,000
2. Suburbs - Arcade Fire - 18,800
3. Brothers - Black Key - 18,400



Meh, where's the full report? =P

[passionformusic]

Congrats to the King (Eminem) and the Queen (Taylor)! ;)
Wow...tough luck for Katy. Missed so little to reach plat. Still probably over mil by now .

although that feat that would later be broken by the arrival of Taylor Swift's "Speak Now," which shifted 1.05 million when it exploded at No. 1 on the Nov. 13, 2010, chart.

Hmm...

[Lockheart]

So we have 3 albums in and near the 3 million mark.

Eminem - 3.42 million
Lady Antebellum - 3.09
Taylor Swift - 2.96

I think that's pretty decent. I don't really care if albums are this % down as compared to last year or the year before. As long as we have a couple of albums posting decent numbers for the year, I'm happy. With releases from Britney, Beyonce, and GaGa this year, it will definitely be an interesting year, plus let's see how far Speak Now will go this year as well

[Rodze]

new.music.yahoo.com/blogs/chart_watch/70710/chart-watch-extra-down-to-the-wire/

2010 Top 20 Digital Songs

01. 4,398,000 - California Gurls - Katy Perry ft. Snoop Dogg
02. 4,314,000 - Hey, Soul Sister - Train
03. 4,245,000 - Love the Way You Lie - Eminem ft. Rihanna
04. 4,083,000 - Dynamite - Taio Cruz
05. 4,004,000 - Airplanes - B.o.B. ft. Hayley Williams
06. 3,763,000 - OMG - Usher ft. will.i.am
07. 3,414,000 - Not Afraid - Eminem
08. 3,276,000 - Just the Way You Are - Bruno Mars
09. 3,245,000 - Break Your Heart - Taio Cruz ft. Ludacris
10. 3,182,000 - Need You Now - Lady Antebellum
11. 3,040,000 - Tik Tok - Ke$ha
12. 3,011,000 - Teenage Dream - Katy Perry
13. 2,987,000 - I Like It - Enrique Iglesias ft. Pitbull
14. 2,915,000 - Like a G6 - Far*East Movement ft. Cataracts Dev
15. 2,874,000 - Imma Be - The Black Eyed Peas
16. 2,761,000 - Just a Dream - Nelly
17. 2,730,000 - Billionaire - Travie McCoy ft. Bruno Mars
18. 2,677,000 - Baby - Justin Bieiber ft. Ludacris
19. 2,668,000 - Nothin' On You - B.o.B. ft. Bruno Mars
20. 2,664,000 - Your Love Is My Drug - Ke$ha

[Lockheart]

^^ Thanks for the numbers. I Like It and Like A G6 will cross the 3 million mark eventually. I'm quite surprised to see Nothin' On You to have lowers numbers than I expected and that In My Head didn't even appear on that list

[ListenToItTwice]

With a few more weeks, "Firework" will pass a lot of the songs on that list. "Dynamite" will eventually pass "Love the Way you Lie."

[Cerbius]

Woah. I had no idea 'Not Afraid' was such a big digital hit. It must have been a consistent digital seller.

[SPRΞΞ]

*here comes a 2-page essay by slicknickshady*

[strikeleo]

Jan 5, 2011 20:15:40 GMT -5 SPRΞΞ said:

*here comes a 2-page essay by slicknickshady*

I don't think he's going to say much, to be honest. While Eminem did get for album, Taylor got for overall album, which is just as important if not more. There isn't anything for him to gloat over here, to be quite honest.

[slicknickshady]

Jan 5, 2011 20:36:12 GMT -5 strikeleo said:

While Eminem did get for album, Taylor got for overall album, which is just as important if not more.

???

What are you blabbing about? Can anybody understand what the above is getting at? haha.

I wasnt going to say much more but i just have to laugh at this rationalization by you. haha, like you determine which is more important.

Recovery sold more than Speak Now. So i don't know what you are blabbing about.

[Honeymoon]

I think he meant that Taylor Swift sold more albums in 2010 than Eminem did.

Either way you look at it both sold very impressively, regardless of whose album came out on top.

[KeepDeanWeird]

Wow. HSS almost beat out CG. Considering it sold almost 900K last year, that is amazing!

[Deleted]

Eminem has all the moves
Updated 47m ago | Comments 1 | Recommend E-mail | Save | Print | Reprints & Permissions |


Enlarge By Matt Sayles, AP

Eminem's Recovery was 2010's top album, too.


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By Edna Gundersen, USA TODAY
Eminem, the best-selling artist of the past decade, also moves up three slots to No. 7 on the list of biggest product movers in the SoundScan era. The rapper has sold 39.6 million albums since 1999, according to year-end data released Wednesday by Nielsen SoundScan.
Garth Brooks still holds history's top spot with 68.5 million, followed by The Beatles with 62.1 million. With 53.1 million, Mariah Carey is fourth, then Metallica (52.7 million), Celine Dion (51.2 million) and George Strait (42.4 million).

Given the prolific young acts on 2010's list, the historical ranking could shift dramatically in a few years. Then again, The Beatles continue to demonstrate uncanny sales clout 40 years after splitting.

The year's top-selling artists, in units sold (in millions)

Taylor Swift 4.5
Eminem, 4.3
Lady Antebellum, 3.8
Justin Bieber, 3.7
Glee cast, 3.6
Susan Boyle, 2.7
Lady Gaga, 2.6
Michael Jackson, 2.1
Zac Brown Band, 1.8
The Beatles, 1.7

The year's best-selling albums (in millions)

Recovery, Eminem, 3.4
Need You Now, Lady Antebellum, 3.1
Speak Now, Taylor Swift, 3
My World, Justin Bieber, 2.3
The Gift, Susan Boyle, 1.8
Fame, Lady Gaga, 1.6
Soldier of Love, Sade, 1.3
Thank Me Later, Drake, 1.3
Raymond V. Raymond, Usher, 1.2
Animal, Ke$ha, 1.1

Sales by genre

Eminem's popularity helped boost sales of rap, the only genre that saw growth in 2010. Everything else suffered. Among the slides:

Rap, +3%
Country, -5%
Christian/gospel, -13%
Soundtracks, -14%
Rock, -16%
R&B, -17%
Alternative, -21%
Jazz, -25%
Latin, -25%
Classical, -26%

Top five digital songs

Sales of five digital songs exceeded 4 million copies each, compared with four the previous year; 37 digital songs sold more than 2 million copies each, up from 31 in 2009 and 19 in 2008. The biggest hits, in descending order:

1. California Gurls, Katy Perry

2.Hey, Soul Sister, Train

3.Love the Way You Lie, Eminem featuring Rihanna

4.Dynamite, Taio Cruz

5.Airplanes, B.o.B featuring Hayley Williams.


Total digital tracks since 2004:

While nobody outsold Eminem in 2010, Swift has sold more digital tracks since SoundScan began tabulating downloads seven years ago. In millions:

Taylor Swift, 34.3
Black Eyed Peas, 33.8
Rihanna, 33.7
Eminem, 33.3
Lady Gaga, 29.3
Kanye West, 25.3
Beyoncé, 25.1
Nickelback, 23.9
Michael Jackson, 23.2
Katy Perry, 22.6

[Joe1240]

Taylor Swift #1 Selling Artist!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yay!!!!!!!!

[slicknickshady]

Wow.. 33.3 Million Digital Sold for Eminem. Didnt expect that many.

Eminem starting out well on his quest for repeat artist of the decade. ;)

[Fat Ass Kelly Price]

Jan 5, 2011 22:59:02 GMT -5 Joe1240 said:

Taylor Swift #1 Selling Artist!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yay!!!!!!!!

And it only took a million countdown singles to do it.

The top four are really close. I wouldn't be surprised to see someone snatch her wig soon.

[Mike]

If GaGa hits hard she'll have no problem taking over that digital title.

[HolidayGuy]

Close digital track sales for the top 4 there.

[SPRΞΞ]

Katy can move to #6 with just one more song.

[shayonce]

2009 year end
www.businesswire.com/portal/site/home/permalink/?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20100106007077&newsLang=en

TOP TEN SELLING DIGITAL ARTISTS OF SOUNDSCAN ERA

(based on digital track sales from 7/4/2004-1/3/2010)


Artist
Units Sold

1 Taylor Swift 24,329,000
2 Rihanna 23,577,000
3 Black Eyed Peas 22,493,000
4 Kanye West 21,842,000
5 Beyonce 21,637,000
6 Nickelback 20,366,000
7 Michael Jackson 19,225,000
8 Britney Spears 18,961,000
9 Eminem 17,941,000
10. T.I. 18,153,000

[Verisimilitude]

According to Nielsen Soundscan, here are the Top 10 albums of 2010:

All formats:

1. Eminem – Recovery (3,415,000)
2. Lady Antebellum – Need You Now (3,089,000)
3. Taylor Swift – Speak Now (2,960,000)
4. Justin Bieber – My World 2.0 (2,319,000)
5. Susan Boyle – The Gift (1,852,000
6. Lady Gaga – Fame (1,591,000)
7. Sade – Soldier of Love (1,300,000)
8. Drake – Thank Me Later (1,269,000)
9. Usher – Raymond V Raymond – (1,143,000)


10. Ke$ha - Animal - (1,143,000)


Physical only:

1. Lady Antebellum – Need You Now (2,707,000)
2. Eminem – Recovery (2,563,000)
3. Taylor Swift – Speak Now (2,473,000)
4. Justin Bieber – My World 2.0 (2,121,000)
5. Susan Boyle – The Gift (1,820,000)
6. Lady Gaga – Fame (1,218,000)
7. Sade – Soldier of Love (1,107,000)
8. Usher – Raymond V Raymond (1,026,000)
9. Drake – Thank Me Later (1,000,000)
10. Jackie Evancho – O Holy Night (991,000)

[DJ General]

Does anyone have any idea how much digital tracks MJ sold before he died? I'm wondering how much was added to his totals after he died. It is actually impressive he is over 22 million since he hasn't had any real hits since the digital era started.

[SPRΞΞ]

it would be nowheres near that number if he was still alive.