The biggest drop was in the United States, where sales dropped by 19 percent. In Europe, the sales dropped by six percent, says the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry.
For Finnish music shops, adding to the already declining sales figures, are consumers choosing to buy CDs or DVDs from online shops outside the EU. This means cheaper prices for the customers, since they do not have to pay Finnish VAT. However they may be liable for customs duties.
The decline is said to be partly due to increased illegal downloading from the web, and partly due to consumers choosing cheaper digital music formats such as the MP3. An increase in digital music sales hasn't been able to compensate for the drop in CD sales.