Record Sales. What's going on?

So I was just on a music news website and I saw the updates of this week's record sales. Alicia Keys went platinum second week, with only one single-"No One." Fergie, after being on the top 100 charts for over a year, has sold close to 3 million albums. Kanye is barely over platinum, and Jay-Z is three weeks in and struggling at a little over 600 thousand. Freeway has sold less than 100 thousand copies so far.

I just don't get it. In the new age of the internet, it is assumed that people do not buy albums anymore. But, people are going to stores, and have been for over a year, buying Fergie albums like they are running out of stock. Alicia Keys had one single, a great one, but only one, and has had mixed reviews on the album but is still platinum after two weeks.

Meanwhile, real artists, with real quality albums, are struggling to sell a 100 thousand? Really?

I don't know what all of this says about the industry today, but it seems very discouraging to those few artists left who are making quality music. Maybe they don't have number 1 singles, and maybe they don't have a million dollars going into publicity for a project, but they are making quality art.

It's depressing, because with Scarface, Wu Tang, and Lupe coming within the next three weeks, I can't help but think they will struggle to sell, while Fergie climbs to 3 million albums.

All I can say is: thank God Soulja Boy hasn't sold as much as I thought he would.