Old Music Outsells New Music in the U.S.

[Plankton]

Old music is outselling new music for the first time in history. So much for the Adele effect. This past year, catalogue albums outsold the current ones by 4.3 million copies.

Despite the massive success of Adele's album 25, which sold a whopping 7.4 million copies in only six weeks, 2015 marked the first time in U.S. history that new releases were outsold by catalogue albums. Seems like everyone's been feeling extra nostalgic lately.

The term "catalogue" refers to albums released more than 18 months ago. According to Nielsen's annual year end music report, catalogue albums outsold current releases by 4.3 million copies, something never before seen in the industry. Just 10 years ago, current music sales outpaced catalogue music by over 150 million albums. Keep in mind that these stats don't include album streams, but regardless, it's a significant turning point.

Old music is outselling new music for the first time in history | Chart Attack