Nielsen Releases 2014 Mid-Year Sales Report

Nielsen SoundScan and Nielsen BDS recently revealed the 2014 mid-year U.S. music sales airplay and streaming data for the six-month period of December 30, 2013 through June 29, 2014. Nielsen SoundScan measures U.S. point-of-sale of recorded music product, while Nielsen BDS tracks U.S. radio airplay and music streams.

For the first six months of 2014, album sales were down 14.9 percent (selling 120.9 million units), vs. the first six months of 2013, when 142 million units were sold. Meanwhile, vinyl album sales were up 40.4 percent and overall on-demand streaming services were up 42 percent, with on-demand audio up 50.1 percent and on-demand video up 35.2 percent.

Eric Church and Luke Bryan were among the top ten selling albums for 2014 year-to-date. Church lands at No. 3, with Outsiders selling 642,000 YTD. Bryan’s Crash My Party has sold 455,000 units YTD, both for the week ending June 29, 2014. The Frozen soundtrack topped the chart with 2,696,000 copies sold, followed by Beyonce‘s Beyonce at No. 2 with 702,000 units sold YTD.

When Track Equivalent Albums are also included in the YTD tally, Church’s Outsiders lands at No. 6 YTD, with 755,000 in sales, while Bryan’s Crash My Party lands at No. 7 with 746,000 units sold. Florida Georgia Line lands at No. 10 YTD with 712,000 in sales of Here’s To The Good Times. The Frozen soundtrack also tops this chart with a total of 3,379,000 in sales.

Nashville resident Jack White‘s Lazaretto takes the top spot in the 2014 YTD Top 10 Selling Vinyl albums. Lazaretto sold 491,000 units, followed by Arctic Monkeys‘ AM at No. 2, with 251,000 units sold.

Pharrell Williams’ “Happy” is the year’s most played song. See the full report here Nielsen Music 2014 Mid-Year US Release.