NORAH JONES - US MUSIC SALES BOUNCE BACK

NORAH JONES and USHER have helped American music sales defy gloomy forecasts and report a rise in the first three months of 2004 compared to the same period last year (03) - signalling an end to a four-year dip.

The 9.1 per cent upturn in sales of CDs, music DVDs and legal downloads is a boost for an industry that is currently in the midst of an online piracy battle.

For the first time since 2000, two albums - Norah Jones' FEELS LIKE HOME and CONFESSIONS by Usher - had weekly sales of more than one million.

BILLBOARD magazine's GEOFF MATFIELD says, "We've had a big run so far. Because we've had three years of erosion, at least for the first eight months of the year, it will be relatively easy for the industry to post increases."