So says data from Nielsen SoundScan: Sales of digital albums soared 126% during the first half of the year, while digital tracks rose 77%...meanwhile, physical album sales continued to decline in the U.S., down 4.2%.
Digital albums improved by 8.2 million units, with 14.7 million units sold since January versus just 6.4 million units in the first half of 2005. Digital tracks gained by 122 million units; 281 million tracks were sold in the first six months of the year versus 158 million in the same period last year.
Universal Music Group tops the label pack with 34.8 percent of the market. SonyBMG is up a bit to 26 percent, and Warner Music Group has increased its share by five percentage points to 18.5 percent so far this year.