Today Nielsen Soundscan released their yearly observations, and 2011 overall looked better than 2010 did for music.
For the first time since 2004, album sales actually grew year over.
And for the first time ever, digital music sales performed better than physical copies.
According to a Nielsen and Billboard report, digital music purchases accounted for 50.3% of music sales in 2011. Digital sales were up 8.4% from the previous year, while physical album sales declined 5%.
Lady Gaga took the top spot as 2011’s most streamed artist, according to the report. The most streamed song of 2011? Nicki Minaj’s “Super Bass,” with 84.9 million audio streams and 71 million video streams.
Adele’s album 21 was the top selling album both online and physically, and her popular song, “Rolling in the Deep,” was the bestselling digital song, with 5.8 million downloads.
Digital album sales ended the year on a high note, with a record 3.5 million sales in the last week of 2011.
The record industry can thank Adele for reviving the idea of buying entire albums. For the first time since 2004, total album sales — counting both physical and digital — rose compared to the prior year. They increased 1.3% in 2011 to 331 million units. Adele’s 21 sold 5.8 million units, enough to lift the entire album catagory into postive territory for the year.
Did you buy physical, digital, or both types of music in 2011?