Digital Music Downloads Exceed 1 Billion in Sales

Digital music downloads skyrocketed in 2008 with sales exceeding 1 billion songs purchased. According to the L.A. Times, that means that online music sales went up an impressive 27 percent since last year.

The downside?

CD sales took a huge hit in 2008 with sales declining nearly 20 percent. This is bad news for the music industry as CDs still make up most of their revenue. Overall album sales, including CDs and their digital counterparts, dropped 8.5 percent from 2007. And holiday sales, or the lack thereof, plummeted 19 percent.

The L.A. Times goes on to say that many members of the recorded music industry are exploring new sources of revenue. This includes collecting royalties from satellite and Internet radio as well as licensing fees from popular videogames like Rock Band and Guitar Hero.

Unfortunately for the music biz, although these alternate revenue plans are helpful, they still aren't quite enough to offset the decline in CD sales.