|PIC1|Gospel music album sales experienced a double-digit percent increase in sales at the mid-year point in 2006, compared to the first half of 2005, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

This marks the first time since 2002 that gospel music sales have risen in the first half of the year.

John W. Styll, president of the Gospel Music Association (GMA) says the total sales impact of gospel music adds up to a reason for rejoicing.

“The first half of 2006 has been encouraging for gospel music,” said Styll. “It is especially good news that the growth extends to a wide diversity of albums and styles, suggesting that the inspiring and compassionate message that unifies all gospel music is resonating in our culture today.”

As of July 2, 2006, 17,952,000 gospel music albums, including those sold via digital download, have been sold year-to-date compared to 16,085,000 albums for the same six-month time period in 2005. That represents an 11.6 percent increase in sales in a 2005 to 2006 year-to-date comparison. In contrast, the overall music business reports a four percent decline in album sales.

|AD|Legal music downloads are accounting for a continually larger piece of overall gospel music sales. Of the total albums sold in the first half of the year, 502,000 were purchased digitally compared to 191,000 albums downloaded in 2005, a nearly 163 percent growth in digital album sales from the first half of 2005 compared with the first half of 2006.

As for individual digital tracks, 2,688,000 songs were sold through digital downloads for the same time period compared to 1,989,000 last year, a 35 percent increase. The top-selling digital track so far in 2006 is “Beautiful Love” by The Afters.

According to Styll, no trend or style of gospel music has sparked the sales growth. “Take any album’s individual success out of the charts and gospel music sales are still up. Both seasoned artists and new names are finding their way onto the charts. Consumers are buying gospel music where they want to buy music, whether at a Christian store, a general market retailer or on their computer. If there is any explanation behind the growth trend, it might be that we are seeing more acceptance in the marketplace for the gospel message, and hopefully, we are also finally experiencing a decline in music piracy,” he said.