The New York Times-20080128-Popular Demand

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Popular Demand

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A look at the top 10 artists based on sales of albums, and the top 10 artists based on downloads of digital tracks, shows a divide. Fans of popular and country music prefer albums, and fans of hip-hop and R&B download tracks. Only the band Linkin Park, above, featuring Chester Bennington, made the top 10 in both categories.

More consumers are buying music song by song. According to Nielsen SoundScan, album sales, whether on CD or by download, were down 9.5 percent from 2006 to 2007, while sales of digital tracks rose by 45 percent over 2006. SHELLY FREIERMAN

[Illustration]PHOTO (PHOTOGRAPH BY NIGEL TREBLIN/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, GETTY)CHARTS: MUSIC ARTISTS: Top-selling artists, 2007; MAGAZINES: Ad pages, 2007; BROADCAST TELEVISION: Jan. 14 through 20; CABLE TELEVISION: Jan. 14 through 20; MOVIE BOX: Weekend estimates in millions; DVD RENTALS: Jan. 14 through 20, in millions; MUSIC ... ALBUMS: Jan. 14 through 20; MUSIC DOWNLOADS: Jan. 14 through 20 (Sources: Nielsen Media Research (television); Nielsen SoundScan (Popular Demand); Screenline (movies); Internet Movie Database (DVD rentals); Publishers Information Bureau (magazines); Nielsen SoundScan/Billboard (music))