An era is coming to an end: in 2012, CD sales in the trend-setting US market continued to slump by a low double-digit percentage. For the first time, they are now being outstripped by downloads via the Internet.

According to market researcher Nielsen SoundScan, 37% of all album purchases last year were made as downloads via platforms such as iTunes or Amazon mp3. This represents an increase of 6 percent compared to 2011.

In contrast, the previous main channels, the Wal-Mart, Target and Best Buy stores, have become less important. They only sold 29 percent of albums in CD form. Compared to 2011, this represents a steep decline of 31 percent.

Picture: derateru / pixelio.de