Digital Music Sales Surpass Physical Sales for the First Time Ever

It was inevitable – the digital revolution was bound to catch up to the music industry sooner or later. And now it has. According to a new report from CNN, digital music sales have finally exceeded physical sales for the very first time.

Physical music sales have been decreasing every year since digital music offerings have become more popular, finally arriving at this moment – digital music purchases accounted for 50.3 percent of all music sales in 2011.

According to CNN, the boost past 50% was due to a significant increase in digital single sales, combined with a moderate increase in digital album sales.

As far as exact figures, digital album sales numbered around 331 million (a 1.3% increase), with music sales as a whole having increased year-over-year for the first time in 7 years.

Now that digital music is the top dog in the industry, it seems unlikely that it will ever slide backward – digital content as a whole is becoming increasingly popular, and CD’s are unlikely to make a huge comeback!

Long live the digital revolution!

J. Glenn Künzler

Glenn is Managing Editor at MacTrast, and has been using a Mac since he bought his first MacBook Pro in 2006. He lives in a small town in Utah, enjoys bacon more than you can possibly imagine, and is severely addicted to pie.