LOS ANGELES -- Buoyed by the "Titanic" soundtrack, the growing popularity of movie music and Celine Dion's "Let's Talk About Love," the music industry is boasting a 4 percent rise in sales over last year.
With Sony Music in the lead, the industry has sold 780 million units through last weekend, up from 749 million through the same weekend in 1997, sales monitor SoundScan said Wednesday.The success of the past two years is a rebound from two years of almost flat sales: 705 million units in 1996 and 690 million in 1995.
The industry benefited in 1998 from growth in rap music and the continued success of country, along with a broader consumer base. Consumers aren't just young males but teenage girls and older buyers of both genders.
The year also got a boost with "Titanic," which splashed across the silver screen with record success and also did well on the airwaves, even though the soundtrack features mostly orchestral songs.
"It was in a once-in-a-lifetime phenomenon," said Geoff Mayfield, director of charts and columnist for Billboard magazine. "This thing was the kind of album that did Christmas week numbers in January and February."
Released by Sony, the "Titanic" film soundtrack for the highest-grossing movie of all time sold 9.2 million units through Dec. 13, the most recent date available for individual sales figures. It outsold the closest album, Dion's "Let's Talk About Love," by 4 million copies, according to SoundScan.
The "Titanic" ballad "My Heart Will Go On" sung by Dion also was a smash single, so popular that it topped the Latin music charts in English.
The film industry's influence on records went beyond "Titanic." The soundtrack to "City of Angels" sold 3.8 million units and rapper-turned-actor Will Smith scored with his album "Big Willie Style," which sold 3.2 million units.
Rap's continued popularity may outsell country for the first time, despite such hits as Shania Twain's "Come on Over" and Garth Brooks' latest, "Double Live." Meanwhile, the latest teen heartthrobs, Backstreet Boys and 'N Sync', also racked up impressive sales.
But there were signs of potential problems for the industry, such as the below-expectation sales of releases by such established artists as R.E.M. and Phil Collins.
Also, there's uncertainty over the fallout -- including thousands of layoffs -- from Seagram Co.'s acquisition of PolyGram NV.