Country music sales slump

Country music sales fell nearly 10% last year, outpacing the industry’s overall decline of less than 1%, officials said.

The 2003 showing reverses a trend from 2002, when country sales spiked and were the lone bright spot in an otherwise dismal year for the music industry.

Ed Benson, executive director of the Country Music Assn., blames the slump on a dearth of new releases by blockbuster artists. “We face the same challenges as all musical formats, but in 2003 we didn’t have the same number of superstar releases that we had in 2002 when Kenny Chesney, the Dixie Chicks, Faith Hill, Tim McGraw and Shania Twain all had new releases,” Benson said.