That represents another tough drop, though the label-partial Nielsen softened the blow by factoring in its usual bag of questionable calculations.  That includes ‘track equivalent albums,’ as well as a separate methodology that counts every discrete transaction - download, ringtone, album sale, whatever - and invariably comes up with a gain.

But a straighter read of digital sales still revealed continued gains.  For example, digital album sales gained 16.1 percent to 76.4 million, though the broader album decline negated those improvements.  Separately, digital track sales gained 8.3 percent to 1.159 billion units, the second-straight post-billion year for song downloads.  Still, the broader feeling is that paid downloads are entering a plateau after an explosive period of early-stage growth.

And the zinger?  LPs, or vinyl albums, gained 33 percent to 2.5 million, the highest level since Nielsen started tracking in the early 90s. 

This story has been provided by our content partner Digital Music News.