In the age of MP3s, it’s no surprise that digital purchases kept music sales alive in 2012, according to a report by Billboard, with information gathered by Nielsen SoundScan.
Digital singles became monster sellers, with Gotye’s “Somebody That I Used to Know” leading in sales with 6.8 million downloads. Carly Rae Jepsen’s “Call Me Maybe” followed with 6.47 million, while Fun.’s “We Are Young” was third with 5.95 million.
Maroon 5 scored two top 10 downloads (“Payphone” with 4.76 million and “One More Night” with 3.46 million), and PSY’s “Gangnam Style” smashed its way into U.S. territory with 3.59 million.
Overall album sales (while less-than-stellar and cushioned by a digital album sale rise of 14 percent) still held strong, particularly due to some massive girl power.
Adele became the first female and the second-ever artist to have the same album be the No. 1 record of the year for two consecutive years (after Michael Jackson’s “Thriller”) — “21” topped the charts with 4.41 million copies sold, and, once added to the 5.82 million copies sold in 2011, it became the 21st album to surpass 10 million copies sold since SoundScan started tracking album sales in 1991, according to USA Today.
“The fact that she matched Michael Jackson (in that record) is mind-bogglingly huge,” said 20-year-old history junior Rachel Walkover. “It has passed so much else, and we still don’t actually have any idea how big it is because we can’t track illegal downloads.”
Other top albums include Taylor Swift’s “RED,” landing in the second-best spot with 3.11 million copies sold.
Both of One Direction’s albums (debut “Up All Night” and sophomore effort “Take Me Home”) cracked the top 10 with 1.62 million and 1.34 million respectively, while Mumford and Sons was the only folk rock group with a spot in the 10 best with 1.46 million sold.
The majority of the top spots went to country artists like Carrie Underwood, Jason Aldean, Luke Bryan and Lionel Richie.
If this is any indication for the year ahead, it’s safe to say digital sales will only grow in 2013.
