MUSIC
Sales best since ’04
U.S. music album sales grew in the first six months of the year from a year ago, the first gain since 2004, thanks to rising sales of digital tracks and albums.
Tracking firm Nielsen SoundScan said last week that overall album sales rose nearly 4 percent to 221.5 million units, from 213.6 million a year ago.
The figure includes compact discs and digital albums. Nielsen also counts 10 tracks sold individually as one album.
The top-selling album was Adele’s “21,” with 2.5 million albums sold, while Lady Gaga’s “Born This Way” came in second with 1.5 million albums, thanks largely to a promotion on that sold her album for a heavily discounted 99 cents. (Related story on 1E). The Associated Press
VIDEO
Hulu near 1 million
Online video service Hulu says it expects to have more than a million paying subscribers by the end of summer, several months earlier than forecast.
The rapid popularity of the paid plan may increase interest in Hulu, whose media company parents, including The Walt Disney Co., News Corp. and Comcast Corp., have put it up for sale.
Hulu chief executive Jason Kilar said in a blog post Wednesday that the number of people who paid $8 a month for the Hulu Plus service hit 875,000 in June. Paying customers get access to a deep catalog of TV shows and can watch on mobile and other connected devices. The free service is available only on computers. The Associated Press
