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Related Digital Music Sales Top Physical Sales CNNMoney

Last year, for the first time in history, digital music sales exceeded physical sales, according to a newly released Nielsen/Billboard report cited by CNNMoney. In 2011, digital music sales climbed past physical sales to take a 50.3% market share of all music purchases. In a continuation of a multi-year trend, digital sales increased by 8.4% from 2010, while physical sales declined 5%.

In the decade since Apple launched its iTunes music store, a host of digital music ventures have appeared, with varying degrees of success. iTunes remains the market leader but faces increasing competition from upstarts like Rdio, Spotify and Pandora, which went public earlier this year.

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The big winners for 2011? The 23-year-old British star Adele defied the prevailing trend toward singles by selling 5.8 million copies of her album 21. She became the first artist to sell more than 5 million albums since Usher’s Confessions in 2004. She also became the first artist to claim the top spot for Best Selling Artist, Album and Digital Song (“Rolling In The Deep”).

Lady Gaga nabbed the title for most-streamed artist, with 135 million streams, while Nicki Minaj’s “Super Bass,” was the most-streamed song, with 84.9 million audio streams and 71 million video streams.

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Here are some other details from the Nielsen/Billboard 2011 Music Industry Report: