U.S. album sales dropped in 2008

NEW YORK, Jan. 3 (UPI) -- Album sales in the United States dropped by 14 percent in 2008 with "Tha Carter III" by rapper Lil' Wayne taking top sales honors for the year, data shows.

The BBC said, according to Nielsen SoundScan figures, while "Tha Carter III" was the year's top-selling album in the United States, Radiohead's "In Rainbows" earned the top vinyl album sales position last year.

Vinyl record sales across the nation enjoyed an 89 percent increase in 2008 despite the overall album sales decline.

Also despite the loss of album sales nationwide last year, overall music sales in the United States increased during the year.

The BBC said more than 1.5 billion music sales took place nationwide in 2008, compared with the 1.36 billion total from 2007.

Those figures represented music sales in digital and physical formats, along with sales of music ring tones and videos.

Among all artists, singer Taylor Swift emerged as the top overall sales giant in 2008, followed closely by rockers AC/DC and Wayne.