Digital Country Sales up 50 Percent

Country Music’s digital album sales grew more than 50 percent in the first half of 2009, according to an article in The Tennessean. A main reason for this is because almost every music label is aggressively promoting artists online and younger performers, such as Taylor Swift and Miley Cyrus, are gaining popularity.

The Country Music industry sold 2.35 million digital albums for the year through June 28, a growth of about 55 percent, which beat all other popular music genres, according to Nielsen SoundScan. Gospel finished second, about 5 percentage points behind.

Digital gains came as Country Music's physical CD sales continued to fall, declining 7 percent so far this year. CD sales for all types of music combined fell by even more.

"In a down market for music overall, Country Music consumers are still interested in buying and owning music," said Wade Jessen, Senior Chart Manager-Nashville for The Nielsen Co./Billboard. "It's a lifestyle music."