After years of slow decline, CD sales in the first quarter of 2007 have dropped sharply, by about 20 percent, according to the Wall Street Journal on Wednesday.

The drop far exceeds the on-line sales which the music industry had been hoping would make up the difference.

"The slide stems from the confluence of long-simmering factors that are now feeding off each other, including the demise of specialty music retailers like longtime music mecca Tower Records. About 800 music stores, including Tower’s 89 locations, closed in 2006 alone," Ethan Smith wrote for the WSJ.

Moreover, customers have found new ways to acquire music. In years past, the only choice was to walk into a music store and buy the CD. Now, some industry leaders are viewing CDs as more of a marketing and promotion effort.

"The music industry has found itself almost powerless in the face of this shift," Mr. Smith said. "Its struggles are hardly unique in the media world. The film, TV and publishing industries are also finding it hard to adapt to the digital age. Though consumers are exposed to more media in more ways than ever before, the challenge for media companies is finding a way to make money from all that exposure."

The result has been the weakest sales of CDs the industry has ever seen. As a result, Best Buy has been reducing the space it dedicates to music lately. Wal-Mart has not yet done the same, but the WSJ concluded that, "... if they do it could spell more trouble for the record companies. The big-box chains already stocked far fewer titles than did the fading specialty retailers. As a result, it is harder for consumers to find and purchase older titles in stores."