As you may already be aware, Soundscan is the company behind Billboards Music Charts that report on weekly sales of CD’s for your favourite artists.

Today, Soundscan announced that they will also include sales of artists’ albums online, through such services as Apple’s iTunes Music Store, Pressplay, MusicNet, Listen.com and Liquid Audio, in their weekly reports.

“We’ve been closely watching the explosion of online music, and the various formats that are driving it,” said Rob Sisco, president Nielsen Music, and chief operating officer of Nielsen Entertainment East Coast Operations.

“Purchasing digital downloads has proven to be a viable emerging technology among a rapidly growing segment of music fans,” he said.

Sales will appear under the non-tradiotional category, which includes: Internet, mail order and concert venue sales.

Album and Single sales will be reported separately.






Related Stories: