Digital Music Milestones

Neilsen announced this week that digital music sales are on track to set new records, surpassing the 1.2 billion tracks sold in 2011. Other data from their report includes the fact that digital album sales were up 15% for the first 8 months off the year. The same week, the venerable compact disc celebrated its 30th birthday. On October 1st, 1982, Billy Joel’s 52nd Street became the first album officially released on CD. NPR reported on the history of the CD and a comparison of its lifespan as a music delivery system with other formats.