Artists such as Lil Wayne, Taylor Swift, Rihanna, Coldplay and Flo Rida helped consumers make more decisions to buy music than ever for the fourth year in a row according to Nielsen SoundScan. While total album sales slipped 14% from 500.5 to 428.4M in 2008, sales of digital albums were up 32% from 50M to 65.8M in 2008. Sales of individual digital tracks also grew, soaring 27% over the previous year’s sales. Ironically, in the new digital age, sales of vinyl LPs were at an all-time high (1.88M).
More SoundScan data …

Billboard reports that, as expected, Coldplay topped The Billboard 200 chart this week with their new release ”Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends.”  The release sold an impressive 721,000 copies in the U.S in its first week, according to Nielsen SoundScan.  
Coldplay is the first rock band to have a 700,000-plus week since The Eagles’ “Long Road Out of Eden” sold 711,000 copies in its first week of release last November.