It’s good news/bad news for Lil Wayne’s “Tha Carter III” CD.
“Tha Carter III” is the top-selling CD of 2008 with 2.8 million copies under its belt, according the Nielsen/Soundscan. But that total also has the distinction of being the lowest tally for a best-selling album of the year since 1991.

Here are the year’s top best-selling CDs, followed by other tidbits on the year in music sales.

1. Lil Wayne, “Tha Carter III,” 2.88 million copies sold
2. Coldplay, “Viva La Vida,” 2.15 million
3. Taylor Swift, “Fearless,” 2.11 million
4. Kid Rock, “Rock N Roll Jesus,” 2 million
5. AC/DC, “Black Ice,” 1.92 million
6. Taylor Swift, “Taylor Swift,” 1.6 million
7. Metallica, “Death Magnetic,” 1.57 million
8. T.I., “Paper Trail,” 1.52 million
9. Jack Johnson, “Sleep Through the Static,” 1.5 million
10. Beyonce, “I Am…Sasha Fierce,” 1.46 million

– 428.4 million albums were sold in 2008, down 14.4% compared to 2007’s 500.5 million.
– Digital downloads of albums accounted for 65.79 million albums this year, or 15.4% of the overall album market. In 2007, digital albums sold 50.01 million and represented 10% of the album market.
– Physical CD albums made up 360.6 million albums this year or 84% of the market, compared to 449.18 million last year or 90% of overall album sales.
– Sales of vinyl albums rose, totaling about 1.9 million — more than any year since Nielsen/Soundscan began tracking data in 1991. The top selling vinyl set of 2008 was Radiohead’s “In Rainbows,” with 26,000.
– Digital track sales continue to rise. This was the first year over 1 billion tracks were sold, with 1.07 billion sold, up 26.7% compared to 2007’s 844 million.
– The top selling track of the year is Leona Lewis’ “Bleeding Love,” with 3.37 million.