Tarrus Riley (left) alongside Dean Fraser during his US tour earlier this year. - Contributed

Despite unflattering sales for singer Tarrus Riley's Contagious, the man who produced the album is refusing to cry in his milk. In fact, Dean Fraser has said he is pleasantly surprised it has sold more than 4,000 copies.

To most people, those are disastrous figures for a highly anticipated album but Fraser believes several factors are responsible for the below-par sales.

"If you ask me, those sales are a big step forward because everybody is downloading the music nowadays. It's just a sign of the times," he told The Sunday Gleaner.

Sales trackers Nielsen-SoundScan revealed last week that dancehall/reggae albums have shown dismal returns in 2009. Big names like Sean Paul, Riley,

Buju Banton and Mavado failed to make any significant impact on European charts.

Fraser, who is also Riley's musical director, is unfazed. He said the worldwide recession that started a year ago has also had a say in declining sales.

"It has definitely hurt a lot of the artistes," he said.

Sales of the compact disc continue to plummet as more consumers download music from the Internet. The International Federation of the Phonographic

Industry reports that digital downloads account for 20 per cent of music sales worldwide, with a massive 66 million albums sold via this format in 2008.

Fraser also produced Parables, Riley's 2006 album which was hugely popular in Jamaica and in West Indian markets throughout North America and Europe. It set the pace for Contagious, an 18-track set which was released in August by VP Records.

Reviews for Contagious have been generally good with Angus Taylor of the British Broadcasting Corporation calling it "as good a record as you'll hear this year".

Its lead single, Love's Contagious, and a cover of Michael Jackson's Human Nature received strong rotation on local radio. Fraser said he and Riley went for some dancehall touches on Contagious - deejay Konshens appears on the song Good Girl Gone Bad, while he teamed with Demarco and Vybz Kartel on Herbs Promotion.

The sales might not be good, but Fraser is satisfied with Riley's growth as a live act. He recently completed a five-week tour of the United States and Canada, playing mainly club and festival dates.

"The important thing is we played places he never went before and the response was positive," Fraser said.

Most of the US dates took place on the East Coast. The Canadian shows were in Toronto and Montreal.

Riley is scheduled to make another five-week overseas run, in Europe, starting in mid-January.