AfterDawn: Tech news

Digital sales will not save music industry

Written by Jari Ketola @ 22 Nov 2003 3:21 User comments (4)

A study named The Global Music Industry from Informa Media Group predicts that music industry revenues will keep dropping for a year before picking up and reaching $32bn by the year 2008.
A somewhat surprising assessment in the study is that the now promising online music sales will not be the driving force behind the growth. The growth will be based on better copy protection schemes and getting a handle on online file-sharing piracy.

Informa does believe that online music sales will grow, but it estimates that by 2008 only 5.7 per cent of all music sales will consist of digital sales. Online sales in total would represent a total of 12 per cent.

"The music industry is in a bad way at the moment but the continued fall in the value of music sales is certainly not irreversible. The success of the new download services proves there is a viable market for legitimate digital sales, but the music companies must act decisively to stop the growth of the illegal services and the widespread copying of CDs," author of the report, Simon Dyson, said in a statement.



Source:
silicon.com

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4 user comments

123.11.2003 05:03

Why do they call it the Music Industry?? The music industry spreads far beyond the RIAA and IFPI. The music industry would also consist of people who dont make any money off their music right? So why the hell do they keep calling it that? The RIAA are also terrible for it, calling themselves the music industry when they are not! They are just a business, its like one big union of businesses, just cause it might be the biggest doesnt earn the title "music industry". And back on topic, How could they possibly make any prediction to music sales? Ok I understand if they knock out some major p2p network that sales might increase but people are getting accustomed to getting their music one way or another through their computer so wouldn't that be a boost for digital sales? And when they say better copy protection, there is no perfect copy protection! and wont ever be, there will always be a way to rip music through software or hardware to mp3 or mpc or whatever. They are living in a dream world! I'd personally like to welcome the Informa Media Group to the 21st Century!

224.11.2003 04:48

http://www.movielink.com/ - cool, RIAA - sucks.

324.11.2003 06:10

They keep referring to the industry being in a bad way as if their situation isn't in the natural order of things. The digital revolution and the internet have made the RIAA's cash cow go way. They can't force their unfair business model anymore and they are crying about it as if they have a God-given right to always make the same profits for eternity. Their best years profit-wise were made through collective price-fixing. Look around, companies all over have ups and downs and have to adapt to new technology. It's called progression and the RIAA refused to acknowledge it. Piss on them.

424.11.2003 12:34

I would like to propose a toast to a painful (but hopefully not too slow) death for the "music industry" of today that we know and hate. The days of cheating artists out of a living and raking customers over the coals must end. May they not be saved...

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