Year-end sales figures released on Wednesday by The Nielsen Co show total album sales, including album equivalents made up of single digital tracks, fell to 428.4 million units, down 8.5 per cent from 500.5 million in 2007.

Physical album sales fell 20 per cent to 362.6 million from 450.5 million, while digital album sales rose 32 per cent to a record 65.8 million units.

Digital track sales, such as those conducted in Apple Inc's iTunes Music Store, were up 27 per cent from last year, breaking the 1 billion mark for the first time at 1.07 billion. -- AP