Universal Music Group had 31.5% of the U.S. album market in 2008, a slight drop from its 31.9% in 2007 but well enough to retain its title as market share leader. Sony Music (formerly Sony BMG) was second with 25.3%, a slight improvement from 25.0% in 2007 but far from its share just years earlier. Warner Music Group was third with 21.38%, a good improvement from 20.3% in 2007 (but not as good as the 24.7% share WMG had in the month of September). EMI continued to drop. With 8.97%, it had the lowest market share of the four majors. In 2007, EMI had 9.4%. In 2006, it had 10.2%.

Independent labels had 12.8% of the market, a drop from their 13.5% share in 2007.

Market shares, according to Nielsen data, were reported in this Billboard article.