CDs Lose Ground to Digital

17 Mar, 2009 By: Thomas K. Arnold

Just read the new report from The NPD Group that found there were nearly 17 million fewer CD buyers in 2008 compared to the prior year. The decline in CD buyers cut across all demos, but was particularly focused on teens and consumers ages 50 and up. The number of Internet users paying for digital music increased by about 8 million in 2008 to 36 million, according to the report. Purchases of online digital music downloads increased 29% since last year and now account for 33% of all music tracks purchased in the United States.

The press released quoted Russ Crupnick, entertainment industry analyst for The NPD Group and an old friend of Home Media Magazine, as saying, "Rising incidence of paid downloads is a positive development for the industry, but not all lost CD buyers are turning to digital music." Interesting — this underscores the importance of keeping packaged media alive and healthy, because you're not going to make up for it on the digital side.