Album Sales See First Spike in Years [POLL]

According to the Associated Press, U.S. album sales rose more than three percent in 2011. That's the first gain since 2004, when the long decline started for compact discs.

Of course, digital sales were the main reason the numbers spiked. Digital sales rose nearly 20 percent to 103 million last year. CDs fell nearly 6 percent to 225 million.

The rest of the total was comprimsed of single tracks purchased online; 10 tracks counted as one album.

It's great to see prosperity return to the music market, especially in light of recent developments like Spotify, Pandora and of course, illegal downloading.