The year is off to a bad start for the music industry with U.S. album sales off 6.2 percent from the first week of 2008, according to data issued Wednesday.

About 8.5 million units were sold during the week ended January 4, down from almost 9.1 million this time last year, and also down 50 percent from the holiday-boosted previous week, said tracking firm Nielsen SoundScan.

Album sales for 2008 fell for the seventh time in eight years, off 14 percent from 2007, the firm reported last week.

Country star Taylor Swift is doing her best to keep the industry afloat. Her second album, "Fearless," notched a fifth week atop the Billboard 200 on Wednesday, moving 90,000 copies in the latest sales period. That's the first time a No. 1 album has sold fewer than 100,000 units since the week ended February 3, 2008, when Alicia Keys' "As I Am" shifted 61,000.

Beyonce's "I Am ... Sasha Fierce" held at No. 2 last week with 77,000. Kanye West's "808s and Heartbreak" rose two places to No. 3 with 71,000. The "Twilight" soundtrack was also up two places, to No. 4, with 66,000.

Nickelback's "Dark Horse" fell one to No. 5 with 64,000, while Britney Spears' "Circus" slid three to No. 6 with a couple hundred copies fewer than that, also at 64,000. Keyshia Cole's "A Different Me" kept the No. 7 spot warm with 54,000.

Jamie Foxx's "Intuition" rose one to No. 8 with 45,000, flip-flopping with the multi-artist "NOW 29" hits compilation, which sold 44,000.

An anomaly amongst overall post-holiday declines, the Target exclusive "All Wrapped Up," featuring Christmas songs from the Jonas Brothers and Miley Cyrus, among others, jumped 78 places to No. 10. The disc, which was deeply discounted after the holiday season, sold 40,000 copies.

The only debut among the top 50 was "The 99 Most Essential Beethoven Masterpieces" at No. 29 with 21,000 copies. The collection sold for just $1.99 at Amazon.com's MP3 store.

(China Daily/Agencies January 8, 2009)