Post on download data

BAD NEWS OR GOOD NEWS? The N.Y. Post’s Claire Atkinson takes a “sky is falling” approach this morning in reporting the latest download stats. “Single-track music-download sales growth screeched to a halt in the U.S. in the first half of 2010 at 630 million tracks, according to data released by Nielsen yesterday,” she writes in a piece headlined “Musical scare.” “The sales total is down 0.7% from the same period a year earlier.” Only at the end of the piece does Atkinson mention a 13% increase in album downloads during the same period. According to our abacus-wielding numbers drones, +13% on albums is a huge win if a la carte sales have dipped by less than 1%. The point is, increased album sales was part of the endgame of raising tracks to $1.29. Revenues are up, album sales are up and track sales are essentially flat. Where's the "scare" in any of this? (9/29a)