In my opinion those numbers mean nothing. It is like a sports team having the best record during the regular season and losing in the first round of the playoffs.
At this point in their careers/egos, I am sure they would love to see great numbers, but as long as they continue to fill venues for concerts, I really think that album sales are an afterthought, with this many years under their belt. It can be far more important early on, but at this stage, I don't think it really matters to them. The cash cow is touring.
This is absolute fact.
Today, in 2010, album sales are chump change,
for any band. There is virtually no money to be made in selling records because of digital downloads. We are in a strange limbo between eras right now-- physical records/CDs are more or less a thing of the past. While legal (iTunes, Amazon, etc) downloads exist, the industry hasn't yet got a handle on curbing digital pirating. You and I might be inclined to buy a physical copy of our favorite band's most recent album, but we're in the vast minority compared to those who will just download a copy (think 10:1). Out of those 10 who just decide to download the album, maybe 2 are doing it legally. Out of those 2 who are actually paying to download the music, there's a good chance that either one or both of them are only buying the select songs on the album that interest them as opposed to the entire thing.
As of yet, there's no way to "digitally pirate" a concert ticket.
