Digital albums account for 27.4% of American music purchases

"According to data released July 7 by Nielsen SoundScan, the sales tracking system for music, published by Billboard magazine, digital albums now account for 27.4% of music purchases, up from 21.5% at the same point last year.
The report indicated that physical album sales continued to decline while digital album sales grew during the first six months of 2010. This confirms indications in a June survey by Pricewaterhouse Coopers, "Entertainment and Media Outlook for 2010-2014."
Pricewaterhouse Cooper projects that digital sales will overtake physical purchases next year. Consumers' use of digital platforms is ahead of industry estimates, hitting all segments of entertainment and media, including music, movies and videogames.
[...]
The research indicates that by 2014 digital purchases are projected to rise to $17 billion, doubling from $8.1 billion in 2009. Physical sales will dip $10.9 billion by 2014, a decline of 66% from 2005.
Overall, SoundScan states that album sales (physical and digital) are down 11% so far this year, with 154 million sold. Physical albums declined 17.7%, while digital albums rose 13.7%.
Interestingly, vinyl LPs have increased by 9.1% (1.3 million sold)."
Source: Data from Nielsen Soundscan, reported by The Independent, 8th July 2010