December 31, 2003 05:19 PM Eastern Time 

Nielsen SoundScan and Nielsen BDS 2003 Year End Music Industry Report

LOS ANGELES--()--Dec. 31, 2003--Nielsen SoundScan, the entertainment industry's data information system that tracks point-of-purchase sales of recorded music product, and Nielsen BDS, the music industry's leading song monitoring service, have announced their 2003 year end sales and airplay monitoring data through December 28, 2003. 

2003 TOP TEN SELLING ALBUMS
---------------------------
(01/01/2003-12/28/2003)

Title / Artist                                    Units Sold
--------------                                    ----------
1.  Get Rich or Die Tryin' / 50 Cent              6,535,809
2.  Come Away with Me / Norah Jones               5,137,468
3.  Meteora / Linkin Park                         3,478,361
4.  Fallen / Evanescence                          3,364,738
5.  Speakerboxx-Love / Outkast                    3,089,849
6.  Dangerously In Love / Beyonce                 2,527,485
7.  Chocolate Factory / R. Kelly                  2,439,536
8.  Metamorphosis / Hilary Duff                   2,405,544
9.  Shock N Y'All / Toby Keith                    2,324,437
10. Rush Of Blood to the Head / Coldplay          2,183,997


TOP TEN SELLING ALBUMS OF SOUNDSCAN ERA
---------------------------------------
(1991 - 12/28/2003)

Title / Artist                                    Units Sold
--------------                                    ----------
1.  Come on Over / Shania Twain                   14,896,911
2.  Jagged Little Pill / Alanis Morisette         14,200,822
3.  Metallica / Metallica                         13,803,308
4.  Millennium / Backstreet Boys                  12,056,675
5.  Bodyguard / Soundtrack                        11,741,779
6.  Supernatural / Santana                        11,333,627
7.  Human Clay / Creed                            11,291,067
8.  No Strings Attached / N Sync                  11,069,789
9.  Falling Into You / Celine Dion                10,614,005
10. Baby One More Time / Britney Spears           10,472,878


2003 YEAR-TO-DATE RECORD COMPANY MARKET SHARE  (01/01/03-12/28/03)
---------------------------------------------

TOTAL ALBUMS                            CURRENT ALBUMS
------------                            --------------
(Catalog & Current Titles)

               2003       2002                       2003       2002
              -------    -------                    -------    -------
UMVD          28.08 %    28.88 %        UMVD        30.16 %    31.27 %
BMG           15.46 %    14.79 %        BMG         18.39 %    17.35 %
WEA           16.38 %    15.87 %        SONY        12.53 %    15.24 %
SONY          13.71 %    15.67 %        WEA         15.44 %    14.25 %
EMD            9.67 %     8.43 %        EMD          9.20 %     7.33 %
OTHERS        16.70 %    16.36 %        OTHERS      14.28 %    14.57 %


2003 GENRE ALBUM SALES REPORT (01/01/03-12/28/03)
-----------------------------

Album Units Sold (000's)
----------------
Genre                   2003        2002
-----                 -------     -------
Alternative           128,375     126,375
Classical              18,853      21,527
Country                69,311      76,905
Jazz                   23,060      22,642
Latin                  27,401      23,742
Metal                  73,816      74,677
R&B                   150,789     161,927
Rap                    77,162      84,553
Christian/Gospel       47,083      49,664
Soundtrack             32,623      36,817
New Age                 5,662       7,145
(Note: Titles may appear in more than one genre)


Current vs. Catalog albums (01/01/03-12/28/03)
--------------------------
(In Millions)
                        2003        2002
                       -----       -----
Current                423.9       429.6
Catalog                232.3       251.2
Deep Catalog           165.9       176.8


OVERALL MUSIC SALES (01/01/03-12/28/03)
-------------------
(IN MILLIONS)

UNITS SOLD              2003        2002
                        ----        ----
                         687         693


TOTAL CD ALBUM SALES (01/01/03-12/28/03)
--------------------
(Includes Catalog And Current Titles, IN MILLIONS)

                        2003        2002
                       -----       -----
CDs                    635.8       649.5


INTERNET ALBUM SALES
--------------------
UNITS SOLD              2003        2002
                     ----------  ----------
                     21,701,091  18,079,765


DIGITAL TRACK SALES (06/29/03-12/28/03)
-------------------
(In Millions)

UNITS SOLD              2003
                        ----
                        19.2

-- The overall music business is down 0.8% units sold as compared to 2002.

-- Overall Album sales are down 3.6% as compared to 2002.

-- CD album sales, which comprise 96% of all music sales, are down 2% as compared to 2002.

-- 19.2 million digital tracks have been sold since June 29th, 2003.

-- Overall Album sales were up 20% in the last reporting week of 2003 as compared to 2002.

-- In December 2003, Overall Album sales were up 5% as compared to December 2002.

-- In December 2003, CD album sales were up 6.1% as compared to December 2002.

-- Fourth quarter 2003 Overall music business is up 10.5% as compared to fourth quarter 2002.

-- Fourth quarter 2003 CD album sales were up 5.6% as compared to fourth quarter 2002.

-- Fourth quarter 2003 Overall Album sales were up 4.3% as compared to fourth quarter 2002.

-- Overall Music Video 2003 sales were up 78.5% as compared to 2002.

-- DVD Music Video 2003 sales were up 104.5% as compared to 2002.

-- Single 2003 sales were down 4% as compared to 2002.

-- Alternative, Jazz and Latin 2003 album sales were up over sales in 2002.

-- Cassette album 2003 sales were down 39.8% as compared to 2002.

Nielsen Broadcast Data Systems (Nielsen BDS), the music industry's leading song monitoring service, has announced the most played songs at radio for 2003. 


    Song Title            Artist           Label            Detections

1.  When I'm Gone         3 Doors Down     REPUBLIC/          393679
                                            UNIVERSAL         
2.  In Da Club            50 Cent          INTERSCOPE         359604
3.  Bring Me To Life      Evanescence      WIND-UP            354390
4.  Unwell                Matchbox Twenty  ATLANTIC           339215
5.  Ignition              R. Kelly         JIVE               318527
6.  Get Busy              Sean Paul        ATLANTIC           275540
7.  Crazy In Love         Beyonce          COLUMBIA           267729
8.  Shake Ya Tailfeather  Nelly, P. Diddy  BAD BOY/           260231
                           & Murphy Lee     UNIVERSAL 
9.  Headstrong            Trapt            WARNER BROS.       258523
10.  I'm With You         Avril Lavigne    ARISTA             258512

Contacts

Scoop Marketing
Larry Solters or Anna Loynes, 213-639-6160