Sour note: Music sales down in 2008
Drop is 7th in 8 years as recession adds to Internet piracy and video games in weighing on industry.
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) -- U.S. album sales slid for a seventh time in eight years in 2008 as growth in the digital arena, one of the few bright spots in the ailing music industry, slowed, according to industry data.
Total album sales fell 14% to 428.4 million units during the 52-week period ended Dec. 28, according to retail data collected by tracking firm Nielsen SoundScan.
This follows a 15% drop in 2007, and sets a new low since the firm began monitoring sales in 1991. Sales have plummeted 45% from the industry's high-water mark of 785.1 million units in 2000, due largely to Internet piracy and competition from other forms of entertainment such as video games.
This year, the industry also faced an economic recession.
Digital downloads, through online retailers such as Apple Inc. (AAPL, Fortune 500)'s iTunes store, have taken on greater importance to the industry, but the impressive growth of recent years is waning.
Digital track sales rose 27% to a record 1.07 billion units, but the growth was slower than the 45% jump in 2007. Digital album sales rose 32% to 65.8 million units, after a 53% jump in 2007.
Ringtones are also a major new focus. But purchases of the top 100 mastertone ringers slid 33% to 43.8 million units. Only one mastertone broke the 2 million mark - rapper Lil Wayne's "Lollipop." Last year, three did.
Lil Wayne also took honors for 2008's top-selling album, moving 2.9 million copies of "Tha Carter III." Last year's No. 1 album was pop vocalist Josh Groban's "Noel" with 3.7 million copies.
Only three other albums sold more than 2 million copies this year: English rock band Coldplay's "Viva la Vida" and country singer Taylor Swift's "Fearless" each with about 2.1 million, and rocker Kid Rock's 2007 release "Rock'N'Roll Jesus" with 2 million. Last year, eight albums sold more than 2 million copies.
Swift, 19, was the biggest artist of 2008, selling 4 million copies, mostly of "Fearless" and her 2006 self-titled debut. Anglo-Australian rock band AC/DC followed with 3.4 million copies, selling almost as many of their old albums as they did of their first release in more than eight years, "Black Ice," which was No. 5 with 1.9 million copies.
Overall music sales, including albums, singles, music video and digital tracks, rose 10.5% to 1.5 billion units, after 14% growth in 2007 and a 19% jump in 2006. 
