According to a survey by The Nielsen Company, the addition of The Beatles’ albums to iTunes as digital downloads spurred an increase in music sales by 1.6 percent.
Music sales have seen a constant decline over the past decade but, starting with the digital distribution of The Beatles last year, they started growing again.
According to
Nielsen, “Music sales in the U.S. are up 1.6 percent in 2011 […] as digital album and track sales saw dramatic growth through May 8.”
Digital album and track purchases grew by 16.8 percent and 9.6 percent, respectively, whereas physical albums (CDs) saw a decline in year-over-year sales from the same period in 2010, the group said.
Retailers also won, as they received more than half of all music transactions. Compared to last year, they recorded a 12.4 percent growth.
“Catalog album sales are up 5.4 percent in 2011, thanks in part to a long-awaited 2010 deal allowing digital distribution of The Beatles’ albums for the first time,” the Nielsen report expressly states.
“Strong releases and aggressive promotions by the labels and retailers are among the many contributing factors to the strength we’re seeing in the music industry,” said Dave Bakula, SVP Analytics, Entertainment for The Nielsen Company. “Overall, the data reflects a continuing strong demand by music consumers.”
On November 16, 2010, Apple Corps, EMI and Apple announced that the most influential and beloved rock band in music history was being made available for the first time on the iTunes Store.
Immediately available for download on that day were the group’s 13 legendary remastered studio albums with iTunes LPs, the two-volume “Past Masters” compilation and the classic “Red” and “Blue” collections.
A special digital “Beatles Box Set” targeting the most avid of fans featured the “Live at the Washington Coliseum, 1964” concert film, a worldwide iTunes exclusive which captures the Beatles’ very first concert in The States.
Finally, the Beatles iTunes debut was also accompanied by TV ads announcing the band’s arrival on iTunes.
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