Ending the year on a bleak note

Well, at least Eminem had a good year.

The music industry, already in hand-wringing mode about its future, had a grim 2002 with a 9% decline -- to $624.2 million -- in album sales. It was the second consecutive year of decline in a business that had been accustomed to annual growth.

The best-selling album in 2002 was “The Eminem Show,” which sold 7.4 million copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan sales reports through Dec. 22.

The Detroit rapper also made the leap to movie star this year with the quasi-biographical “8 Mile.” The film’s soundtrack sold 3.2 million copies to land at No. 5 on the list of 2002’s bestsellers.

The top 10 sellers for the year may not have been as hot as in past years (in 2000, eight albums topped 4 million in sales; this year, only two did) but they represented an eclectic bunch. St. Louis rapper Nelly, benefiting from the ubiquitous hit “Hot in Herre,” finished at No. 2 with his “Nellyville” album selling 4.8 million copies.

Avril Lavigne, the young singer-songwriter who some hail as a welcome respite from frothy teen pop, finished at No. 3 with “Let Go,” a debut package that sold 3.9 million copies. Meanwhile, “Home,” the latest album from the Dixie Chicks, not only sold 3.4 million copies to finish at No. 4 for the year, but also pushed the country trio to a new level in pop history. With 19 million albums sold, the Chicks surpassed TLC as the best-selling female album group ever.

After “8 Mile” at No. 5, the top 10 was rounded out by: Pink’s “Missundaztood,” (3 million); Ashanti’s “Ashanti” (3 million); Alan Jackson’s “Drive” (3 million); the “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” soundtrack (2.7 million) and Shania Twain’s “Up!” (2.6 million). The “O Brother” soundtrack is the only 2001 release in the top 10, continuing the unlikely success story of the collection of folk and traditional music that won the Grammy for best album of 2001. Its total sales now stand at 6.1 million.

Among genres in pop music, the most noticeable difference in 2002 was country music’s 11% jump, much of that due to Alan Jackson and the return to the scene of hugely popular female stars Twain, the Dixie Chicks and Faith Hill. While individual titles were success stories, many in the music industry fear the larger trends dragging in business.

This year’s music-sales declines follow a 3% dip last year. The usual culprits cited are the vagaries of the economy and their effect of leisure purchases, such as music and, more specifically, the advent of the digital download culture, which sees many young people plucking their music online without payment.