The line graph illustrates the sales of three different music formats, namely CDs, cassettes and digital music, in the United States between 1994 and 2006, measured in millions.
Overall, CD sales increased significantly until 2000 before declining steadily. In contrast, cassette sales experienced a dramatic fall throughout the period, while digital music sales rose sharply after 2000 and became the most popular format by 2006.
In 1994, CD sales stood at approximately 450 million, slightly higher than cassette sales, at 400 million. The figure for CDs then increased steadily, reaching around 600 million in 1996 and 700 million in 1998. It peaked at 800 million in 2000. However, sales subsequently declined considerably, falling to 400 million in 2004 and ending the period at approximately 300 million in 2006.
By comparison, cassette sales followed the opposite trend. Starting at 400 million in 1994, they decreased gradually to 350 million in 1996 before dropping sharply to 200 million in 1998. By 2000, sales had fallen to just 50 million and continued to decline until they became almost zero in 2006.
Digital music, meanwhile, recorded virtually no sales before 2000. However, its popularity increased rapidly from 2000 onwards, reaching approximately 400 million in 2004, when it equalled CD sales. It then climbed dramatically to nearly 750 million in 2006, making it the leading music format at the end of the period.