A recent Nielsen global survey of 26,644 online consumers across 53 countries explored the music industry’s toughest questions: how to optimize marketing and how maximize revenue in a digital and increasingly mobile world.

Global consumers are more willing to at least consider paying for particular content categories, especially if they have done so before.

A sold out show or an album going gold, platinum or diamond is music to the ears of emerging artists and veteran musicians alike. But achieving that goal typically takes more than just great songs—exposure is a key contributor.

Bruce Springsteen’s appearance at the Super Bowl half-time on Sunday dovetailed with the January 27 release date for his new album “Working On A Dream.” So, how will his Super Bowl performance impact the sales of latest album and older songs?
According to a new study by Nielsen PreView, not surprisingly, album sales and digital tracks do go up following a Super Bowl half-time performance. However, not all artist sales are equal and not all markets respond similarly.
The study, which analyzed music sales of the past four Super Bowl half-time …

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 …