U.S. Music Sales Decline In 2003, But Rate Slows

The U.S. music industry finished 2003 with album sales totaling 656.3 million units, 3.6% behind 2002's 681 million, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

Universal Music & Video Distribution remained the distribution leader with a 2003 market share of 28.1%, down from 28.9%. The company claimed the year's top-selling album with 50 Cent's "Get Rich Or Die Tryin'" (Shady/Aftermath/Interscope), which scanned 6.5 million units.

The independent sector placed second with a 16.7% share, up from 16.4%. WEA followed with 16.4%, while BMG tallied 15.5%. Sony finished with 13.7% and EMD totaled 9.7%.

UMVD was also the No. 1 distributor in current album market share--those sales occurring within the first 18 months of an album's release (12 months for classical and jazz), except for those that remain in the top half of The Billboard 200--with 30.2%. BMG finished second with 18.4%, while WEA placed third with 14.3%. The independent sector garnered 14.3%, Sony finished with 12.5% and EMD totaled 9.2%.

Five albums scanned more than 3 million units, compared to eight albums in 2002. Behind 50 Cent, Norah Jones' "Come Away With Me" (Blue Note/Capitol) finished with 5.1 million. Other top sellers included Linkin Park's "Meteora" (Warner Bros.) with 3.5 million, Evanescense's "Fallen" (Wind-Up) with 3.4 million, and OutKast's "SpeakerBoxx/The Love Below" (Arista) with 3.1 million.

Current albums accounted for 423.9 million units sold, down 1.3% from 429.7 million units in 2002. Catalog albums dropped 7.5% to 232.4 million, down from 251.3 million units.

The CD format was responsible for 97% of album sales, with the cassette accounting for 2.7% of albums scanned. The CD format had a 2% drop in sales from 2002, while the cassette was down nearly 40%.