Album sales in the U.S. have hit a record low over the last five weeks.
Sales hit 4.68 million for the week ending on July 28 Billboard reports. The previous record was 4.71 million.
Since 2010 music sales have been under five million. Just this year there have been nine weeks that have records fewer than five million. However, streaming records have increased.
CD sales have decreased from 103.3 million to 88.8 million. Digital sales have only increased 1.9% in the second quarter. There are only a few titles that can priced at $5. Since sales are down the $5 CD is not becoming profitable.
“We haven’t refreshed our offering in titles at that price point in months,” a label analyst said. “While it’s still a formidable amount of units sold, sales of the $5 CD will continue to fall.”
Justin Timberlake’s 20/20 Experience is the best-selling album of 2013 with two million copies.
Since streaming music records are strong the question whether streaming is cannibalizing sales rises the Businesses Insider reports.
NielsenSoundscan analyst, Dave Bakula said album sales do not show the state of the music industry. Digital tracks and streaming together are growing and creating the revenue for the industry.