Global Recording Industry's Price Tag: $17 Billion

Industry trade group IFPI published its Recording Industry in Numbers 2010 findings today and as one can imagine, the news isn't good--at least in terms of the traditional model. According to the report, global recorded music revenues slid 7.2% to $17 billion, with the world's two largest markets, the US and Japan, making up for 80% of the decline. To add insult to injury, physical sales plummeted 12.7% to $11.93 billion.

But as expected, the lone bright spot continues to be digital music sales, which rose 9.2% to $4.3 billion in the US, more than ten times the digital market value in 2004. The US isn't the only one reaping the benefits in this medium though as more than 30 countries saw double-digit growth in digital sales, with 17 of those markets including the UK and Singapore reporting that digital sales jumped by more than 40%. And just in case anyone's interested, Susan Boyle beat out Black Eyed Peas for the top-selling global album of 2009. [via Digital Music News]