Wednesday, January 17, 2007

Digital Downloads Double in 2006

January 17, 2007

The issue of downloaded music is on the forefront of the broadcasting and entertainment sector. With more and more devices coming to market capable of downloading music, and fair use laws being challenged, it is little wonder that the subject gets so much press.

Jane Wardell, an AP writer composed a story relating to the download subject, and notes that although the download business model is growing, it is failing to make up for the slump in CD sales. In my opinion, people used to buy an entire CD simply to get access to 1 or 2 tracks. These days, people are far more selective, and buy the tracks that they want via downloading. Thus, while the downloading falls short of making up the gap in CD sales, one needs to remember that the business has become much more a la carte now.

Digital Music Sales Doubled in 2006

By Jane Wardell, AP Business Writer

Digital Music Sales Doubled in 2006, but Failed to Compensate for Drop in CD Sales

LONDON (AP) -- Global digital music sales almost doubled in 2006 to around $2 billion, or around 10 percent of all sales, but failed to compensate for an overall decline in sales of CDs, the global music industry trade body said Wednesday.

The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, or the IFPI, said it expected digital sales to account for a quarter of all sales worldwide by 2010.

"We don't have the holy grail of digital offsetting the decline of CDs as yet," IFPI Chairman John Kennedy said in London after the release of the group's 2007 Digital Music Report.
The report did not give details on the size of the overall music market in 2006, but Kennedy said it had fallen approximately 3 percent.

In early 2006, the IFPI said it believed growth of digital music formats such as mobile would be such that they would compensate globally for the declines........

Interested readers can catch the whole story can read it HERE

Labels: downloads