February 04, 2010

By By Chris M. Walsh, N.Y.

Continuing a familiar music business trend, total album and physical sales slipped in Canada last year, as digital track and album sales hit new highs.

Total album sales ? a tally that includes CDs, cassettes, vinyl and digital albums - slipped 2.2%, going from 35.9 million units in 2008 to 35.1 million units in 2009, according to Nielsen SoundScan Canada. Physical unit sales fell 6.7% to 30.3 million units from 32.5 million sold in 2008.

Digital album sales jumped 42.3% to 4.78 million units - a new record - up from 3.36 million units in 2008. Digital track sales were up 38.3% to 56.3 million units ? another new peak. Digital track sales were at 40.7 million units in 2008.

Susan Boyle?s ?I Dreamed A Dream? ? which was released with just six weeks left in the year - was the best-selling album in Canada in 2009, ultimately moving 319,000 units. Michael Jackson was the best selling artist, selling a total of 651,000 units.

The sales period tracked by Nielsen SoundScan Canada was for the 52-week period from January 5, 2009 through January 3, 2010.

For a full list of best-sellers see below. For the full press release announcing the results click here.

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