Tempo of digital music sales getting faster

Sales of individual digital songs jumped 65% last year to $582 million compared with $353 million in 2005. The statistics were released by Nielsen SoundScan, which tracks point-of-purchase sales of recorded music product; Nielsen BDS, which monitors music performance; and Nielsen RingScan, which tracks mobile ringtone purchases.

Highlights of the stats from 2006 music sales via the Internet include:

• 22 digital songs exceeded the one million unit sales mark for the year compared with only two in 2005.
• During the week beginning Dec. 25, digital song sales pounded 2005 sales, jumping 51% to a record high of 30.1 million track sales compared with 19.9 million during the week beginning Dec. 24, 2005.
• Album sales—including CD and digital versions sold via the web—reached a record high of 29 million units, an increase of 19% over 2005 sales.