According to figures collected by Nielsen SoundScan, album sales have not gone past the 5 million unit mark since June – the longest consecutive run in the States.
In addition, a total of nine weeks so far this year have failed to report sales above the 5 million mark, while the total for the week ending July 28th – 4.68 million – is the lowest recorded since Nielsen was initiated in May 1991.
Blame for the declining sales has been primarily attributed to the growing popularity of online streaming, while a ‘lousy’ summer release schedule has also come under fire.
The news mirrors the problems being witnessed in the UK, where album sales dropped by 10% year-on-year in 2012 despite the huge popularity of Adele‘s ‘21‘ and Emeli Sande‘s ‘Our Version Of Events‘. By contrast, 2013 is well on course to become the biggest ever year for single sales in Britain.