Digi 6. How the sales of CDs have changed in the last five years.

From a peak of 785.1 million albums sold in 2000, the sales of albums have dropped 58.45%, to just 326.2 million in 2010. Increases in sales of digital tracks have not made up the difference. Using 10 digital tracks as one Track Equivalent Album makes lowers the decrease to 43.52%, at 443.4 million track-equivalent albums sold. As the graph above shows
Here is a very interesting article about how a decade of iTunes killed the music industry.
When the first CD was introduced, it was predicted it would only last 20-25 years. It's now around 25 years later and you can still buy CD's from shops. In the last 5 years CD sales have dropped quickly, mostly due to an increase in illegal downloads. 2006-2005 saw a drop of more than 25% over 2 years, and 52% in the last 9 years. However Time magazine found that in 2011 there was a 1.33% increase in sales. This slight increase is thought to be because of Adele's album 21, selling 260,000 copies in 30 weeks. Although record sales have been muted by illegal downloads, artists are still making money off of festivals/concerts and download sites such as iTunes and Spotify. There is also a lot more money in endorsements and sponsorship now than there was in the past.