Nielsen SoundScan Reports CD Sales Up 10.6% in First Quarter of 2004

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on April 12, 2004 - 6:28am.

Los Angeles, Calif. -- Nielsen SoundScan announced on Friday that sales of CDs, which represent 96 percent of album sales, rose 10.6 percent in the first quarter of 2004, resulting in the industry's best domestic sales in years. For the first time since 2000, two recording artists -- Norah Jones and Usher -- managed to sell more than 1 million copies of their albums in a single week this year. "We've had a big run so far,'' said Geoff Mayfield, director of charts and senior analyst for Billboard Magazine. "Because we've had three years of erosion, at least for the first eight months of the year, it will be relatively easy for the industry to post increases.'' Cary Sherman, President of the Recording Industry Association of America, called the first-quarter figures "good news,'' but cautioned that the results were measured against a dismal period.
http://www.soundscan.com
http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/news/editorial/8396823.htm