Sales in the music industry went up .3 percent in 2012- the first annual increase since 1999.
While it may not seem like an impressive growth, the industry is grateful to have stopped the bleeding- if only slightly. Experts credit the “boom” in sales to more willingness to pay for digital music and a steady rise in the number of subscriptions to online streaming services which now account for an estimated 10% of worldwide music revenue.
Another explanation is that 2012 was just a great year in music. After all, Adele’s 21 sold 8.3 million copies last year- finishing first for the second year in a row.
Then again, the biggest selling single was Carly Rae Jepsen’s “Call Me Maybe” followed by Gotye’s “Somebody That I Used to Know” and PSY’s “Gangnam Style”, which of course begs the question: is quality at all a considered factor when using the term “great year in music”?
