Record Sales By The US Census

Record Sales By The US Census

All information is provided by the Bureau of the Census. Amounts include the number of records that were in production that year. The U.S. Census Bureau terminated the collection of data for this program as of October 1, 2011. See additional sources below for more information.

The changing revenue of the recorded music industry over the past two decades.

Year	Amount	Value	Change In Value	Notes
2010	5,500,000	$92,500,000	+40.5%	***
2009	4,400,000	$65,800,000	+2.8%	***
2008	4,100,000	$64,000,000	+40.6%	***
2007	4,900,000	$45,500,000	+14.6	***
2006	4,500,000	$39,700,000	-45.3%	***
2005	7,100,000	$72,600,000	-28.1%	***
2004	9,100,000	$101,000,000	+133.8%	***
2003	5,300,000	$43,200,000	-4.8%
2002	6,100,000	$45,400,000	-22.7%
2001	7,800,000	$58,800,000	+8.8%
2000	7,000,000	$54,000,000	+9.5
1999	8,200,000	$59,700,000	0%
1998	8,800,000	$59,700,000	-13.3%
1997	10,200,000	$68,900,000	-18.2%
1996	13,000,000	$84,300,000	+17.4%
1995	12,400,000	$71.800,000	+10.4%
1994	13,600,000	$65,000,000	+4%
1993	16,200,000	$61,800,000	-22.6%
1992	22,100,000	$79,900,000	-14.3%
1991	26,800,000	$93,300,000	-48.4%
1990	39,300,000	$180,900,000	-46.2%
1989	71,200,000	$336,700,000	-52.7%
1988	138,000,000	$712,600,000	-28.4%
1987	189,000,000	$996,400,000	-17.7%
1986	219,100,000	$1,211,100,000	-22.4%
1985	287,700,000	$1,561,500,000	-15.4%
1984	336,100,000	$1,847,500,000	-5.6%
1983	334,000,000	$1,958,000,000	-11.3%
1982	379,000,000	$2,208,000,000	-15%
1981	450,000,000	$2,598,000,000	+1.5%
1980	487,100,000	$2,559,600,000	+6.1
1979	502,000,000	$2,411,000,000	-11.8%
1978	531,000,000	$2,734,000,000	+12%
1977	534,000,000	$2,440,000,000
1976	3,201,000	$349,000,000		**
1975	421,000,000	$1,696,500,000
1973	5,235,000	$246,000,000	+15.4%	**
1972	4,256,000	$213,000,000		**
1970	*	$1,182,000,000
1968	4,020,000	$233,000,000	+8.3%	**
1967	3,987,000	$215,000,000	-20.6%	**
1965	4,436,000	$271,000,000		**
1963	3,372,000	*		**
1960	2,840,000	*		**
1959	3,300,000	$330,000,000	+1.5%	**
1957	3,717,000	$335,000,000	+117.5%	**
1955	2,234,000	$154,000,000		**
1954	*	$80,224,000	-12.3%
1953	*	$91,527,000	+4.4%
1952	*	$87,670,000	+2.9%
1950	*	$85,203,000
1947	*	$110,184,000
1947	760,000	$81,432,000		Value including records and record players
1939	*	$19,762,000
1939	*	$48,917,000		Value including record accessories like needles, etc.
1937	*	$7,823,000	+111.1%
1935	*	$3,705,000	+48.2%
1933	*	$2,500,000	-67.5%
1931	30,851,282	$7,698,000	-77.4%
1929	105,085,000	$34,129,000	+7.3%
1927	105,701,000	$31,781,000	+18.6%
1925	82,125,000	$26,791,000	-51.6%
1923	978,000	$55,395,000	+44.8%
1921	588,000	$38,251,000	-56.9%
1919	2,138,000	$88,836,000
1914	514,000	$15,291,000		**
1909	345,000	*		**
1899	151,000	*		**

 
* No data
** All values include phonographs and single record players
*** All values include all analog physical media
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The Compact Cassette was invented by Lou Ottens and his team at the Dutch company Philips in 1963.
Click to download census report 

The compact disc was co-developed by Philips and Sony to store and play digital audio recordings in 1982.
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To access the most current data, please refer to the census cited in the source notes.


Additional information and sources:
Global Music Report
Statistical Abstracts of the United States
Statistical Abstracts of the United States Wikipedia
Historical Statistics of the United States, Colonial Times to 1970

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