Digital Album Sales Enter First Long Decline

Digital album sales are experiencing a "sustained decline" for the first time, Billboard reports. An analysis of Nielsen"s Soundscan data reveals that after seven years of growth, digital albums have shrunk for three straight quarters. Sales this year were down 5 percent in the first quarter, 7 percent in the second quarter and 3 percent in the third quarter. Analyst Glen Peoples notes that albums from albums from Taylor Swift, Kanye West and Keith Urban may lead to a turnaround in the fourth quarter. "These trends show the download market has become mature," he said. "Growth is now harder to come by. This trend should put extra pressure on record labels and publishers to speed the arrival of next-generation products and services."

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Song Stories

“Too Close”

Next | 1998

Next was formed in Minneapolis when the uncle of Terry "T-Low" and Raphael "Tweety" Brown, who was a gospel choir director, introduced the brothers to Robert Lavelle "R.L." Huggar. Sounds of Blackness singer Ann Nesby groomed the R&B group before handing them over to Naughty by Nature's KayGee, who wrote and produced "Too Close." The idea for the song was sparked "from a conversation we had with several girls at a nightclub," explained T-Low. "It's talking about the club scene, with guys getting out of hand and the female telling him to back up, asking, 'What are you doing?'" 

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