And the number one selling album of 2009 was....

Boyle's "Dream" was 2009's top selling album released last year as Swift's "Fearless" came out in November 2008 and was also the top selling physical album of 2009. Of its overall 2009 total, physical CDs accounted for 3,019,000 copies, while digital downloads were only 86,000.

Overall, sales continued yet another double digit decline for 2009. For the period Jan 5, 2009 through Jan. 3, 2010, 373.9 million albums sold in the U.S., down 12.7 percent to 2008's 428.4 million albums sold. Digital album sales in the same time frame comparison were up 16.1 percent to an all-time high of 76.4 million in 2009 versus 65.8 million in 2008.

Vinyl sales were 2.5 million in 2009, skyrocketing 33 percent compared to 2008 (1.88 million). More vinyl albums were purchased in 2009, more than any other year of Nielsen SoundScan (since 1991).

Total music purchases in 2009 - albums, singles, music videos and digital tracks -- were 1.5 billion, the fifth straight year sales were more than 1 billion (1.5 billion (2008), 1.4 billion (2007), 1.2 billion (2006), and 1.01 billion (2005)).

A total of 1.159 billion digital tracks were sold in 2009, up 8.3 percent from 2008 (1.070 billion). The biggest selling act, in terms of digital song downloads, was Lady Gaga with more than 15 million in track sales.