U.S. Recorded Music Sales Decrease 6.1%

Recorded music sales in the U.S. fell 6.1% in the first half of the year, led by a 14% drop in CD sales.

The retail value of music sales fell to $4.9 billion in the first six months of 2006 from a year earlier, said the Recording Industry Assn. of America, the industry’s trade group.

Declines in demand for CDs, tapes and other traditional formats outweighed an 86.6% jump in digital sales, the RIAA said. Worldwide, digital music sales more than doubled in the first half of the year to $945 million, the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry said. Digital sales now account for 11% of the total recorded music market.