According to Nielsen Sound-Scan, US digital sales continue to be under pressure. In the third quarter, the digital track sales decline accelerated and now the slowdown of digital album sale is beginning to seep into the red. Digital track sales are down 3.4 percent to 974.5 million from slightly over 1 billion scans accumulated in the corresponding period of 2012. But in the third quarter, the decline was nearly 6 percent to 292.4 million units from the 311 million scanned in the corresponding period last year.
On the good news front: This year has already produced five albums that have passed the million-unit milestone versus three titles that accomplished that feat last year (by the end of the third quarter). This year, Justin Timberlake's 20/20 Experience leads the pack with 2.3 million scans, followed by Bruno Mars' Unorthodox Jukebox with 1.23 million units. Meanwhile Macklemore & Ryan Lewis' "Thrift Shop," is the top selling song with 5.96 million units.
