MUMBAI: The sales of digital music albums have significantly increased by 14 per cent in the first half of 2012 in the US, compared to the same time period last year according to a report by Nielsen SoundScan.

The sales of digital tracks have risen by six per cent even as the overall music sales in the first six months of 2012 grew by four per cent over the same time period last year. Overall album sales dipped by about 0.6 per cent and the sales of physical CDs also continue to drop.

Digital album and track sales may set a new sale record by the end of this year as digital sales currently represent 57.7 per cent of overall music sales, up from 53 per cent in the first half of 2011. Other positive developments included a five per cent rise in catalogue sales and a 14 per cent increase in vinyl sales.

Nielsen SVP client development David Bakula said, “Sales trended well in the first half of the year. While retail sales continue to face challenges related to broader market trends, digital sales gains are expected to achieve another record-breaking year. The strength in other monetized digital formats, including music streaming services, is equally encouraging.”

The report also revealed that the only genres of music to have increased in total album sales (physical and digital) was country with a growth of 5.6 per cent, jazz with a rise of 2.6 per cent and metal by 3.2 per cent. However, nine of the 11 listed genres saw increases in the category of track sales. The lone exceptions were jazz which fell by 1.4 per cent and R&B which dipped by 30.4 per cent. The biggest increase in track sales came from electronic/dance artistes who witnessed a growth of 65.2 per cent.