CD Sales Up 10% Plus 59 Million Downloads In First Half Of ’04

The Recording Industry Association of America just announced that music shipments have risen 4% in the first half of 2004, with CD shipments up 10%, but that this increase still does not counter the sales slump of the past several years.

“We are rising out of a deep hole and still have a long way to go,” said RIAA CEO Mitch Bainwol. “Piracy, both online and on the street, continues to hit the music community hard, and thousands have lost their jobs because of it.” The RIAA’s report also noted that nearly 59 million digital song downloads have been sold in the first half of 2004 from services like iTunes, Napster and OD2.