Graph This!
Where do you buy your CDs? Do you buy them from a record store like Tower Records or the Wherehouse? A big store like Best Buy or Wal-Mart? From a record club, like Columbia ... or do you get yours by ordering off of the Web? Here’s a chart that shows where we buy our CDs and tapes each year. In 1999, we spent nearly 15 billion dollars ... and that’s just in the United States!
Graph this!
Use the data in the chart below to graph the trend in sales by type of store. Put “Store Type” on the vertical (x) axis and “Years” on the horizontal (y) axis. Use a different color or style of line for each type of store.
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CD Sales By Type of Store (Percentage)
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| Store Type | 1990 | 1993 | 1996 | 1999 |
| Record Store | 69.8 | 56.2 | 49.9 | 44.5 |
| Other Store | 18.5 | 26.1 | 31.5 | 38.9 |
| Record Club | 8.9 | 12.9 | 14.3 | 7.9 |
| Mail Order | 2.5 | 3.8 | 2.9 | 2.5 |
| Internet* | NA | NA | NA | 2.4 |
After you finish your graph, study the trends and answer these five questions:
- What type of store had the greatest decline in sales between 1990 and 1999?
- What type of store had the greatest increase in sales between 1990 and 1999?
- How does this compare with where you make your purchases?
- What type of store had the largest percentage increase?
- What type of store do you think has the best future? Why?
Source: Recording Industry Association of America
*Does not include record club purchases over the Internet
The solution to the graph and answers to these questions can be found in the Teachers' Corner.
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