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UK Music Industry Sees Record Sales
ardmhacha writes "Despite the claims of gloom and doom from the BPI (the UK equivalent of the RIAA) the BBC is reporting that 'UK record companies are celebrating their best ever year for album sales, with a record 237 million sold in the 12 months to September. The British Phonographic Industry (BPI) trade body said albums by the likes of Keane and The Streets had helped drive a 3% rise compared with last year. It also said sales of single tracks were up thanks to the availability of legal download services.' It looks like music sales will continue to climb if the customers get something they like. The article also discusses adding music downloads to the charts."
I read s/Phonographic/Pornographic, time to shut the computer off and go outside, I think.
I want to delete my account but Slashdot doesn't allow it.
I thought it was all CDs nowadays, not records.
Now they can stop suing people in Europe.
A) Cracking down on P2P apps is driving sales again
B) Good new music is driving sales
C) The economy is picking up so people are spending money on things like music again
D) P2P apps have exposed people to enough new music and now they are all out buying it
Agile Artisans
BPI began suing filesharers RIAA-style in October 2003, and this year the market rebounds. This isn't necessarily a testimony to the harmlessness of P2P; it could be a testimony to the effectiveness of containment and harassment.
... in Edinburgh, local cinema managers are blaming declining attendances on pirate DVD's being sold at local flea markets.
Vintage computer adverts: http://www.vintageadbrowser.com/computers-and-software-ads
"It looks like music sales will continue to climb if the customers get something they like."
Free Sex.
Great! Now they have more money to sue people with!
Oh, wait...
Well I for one am definately buying more albums as a result of exploring new (to me) music on P2P networks. I'd never heard of Vanglis before P2P came along, now I own his entire back catalog. Surely, I'm not the only one like this?
British Phonographic Industry - everytime I read the word Phonographic, I mistakenly read something else. I think that if BPI wants to maintain good public relations it should, at least, change its name!
I don't understand why the price of a single track is 99p and albums are > £10!
They don't made into CDs with packaging.
They don't need to transported around the world/country in various forms of transport.
They don't need to be stocked in a store which employs loads of people.
Why, with practically 0 distribution chain, is the price still about the same as CD?
When they come down to 25p then I'll start buying this way. Well, so long as there's no DRM.
Auto-check your UK lottery lines
No, it makes you American.
...and see better record sales. Go figure.
This might just be a better business strategy than suing your customers!
The British Phonographic Industry (BPI) trade body said albums by the likes of Keane and The Streets had helped drive a 3% rise
I'd be impressed if the BPI said that they had a 3% increase due to the sales of new, smaller artists.
But the BPI accounts the 3% rise in sales based on a few large pop acts. Undoubtably there was a reduction for all other artists. This isn't a success - this is a long-term failure in the making.
The average pop act has a very short life. If you bet the bank on one or two hugely successful acts, then you're committing yourself to financial chaos.
It is best to have a large number of stable, repeatable acts with long-term purchases that you can depend on.
This article is just some of what I think should be common business sense shining through:
Forcing customers to do business on your terms (buy the CD @ the producer-price-fixed $18 or break the law) while simultaneously feeding them no talent hacks (most anyway) is just begging for them to "steal" the few decent songs produced. Maybe I'm just messed in the head in thinking that suing your customers because you (the producer) won't listen to what they (the consumer) want is just FUBAR'ed.
Note to the entertainment industry: we computer scientists have jumped into the 21st century by getting through the Y2K bug, I suggest you push your business model to the 21st century as well and reap the benefits be earning my money instead of coercing me. iTunes started it, now embrace it.
PS: I'm not the only one waiting for you to do so.
:wq
I think the mere fact that The Streets sell any copies proves conclusively that the UK music industry is in terminal decline!
I mean, Christ. Some chav who sounds like a 15-year-old schoolyard weed dealer whining about his girlfriend, who just talks on his record, can get to number one? Kids today! Never thought I'd say this, but bring back National Service!
You must think in Russian.
To some people, "record" doesn't just mean vinyl with grooves in. I'm not familiar with British copyright terminology, but at least under U.S. copyright law, a "phonorecord" is a medium in which a sound recording is fixed, roughly corresponding to a "copy" of any other work. Examples of various types of phonorecords, or "records" for short, include Columbia 33.3 RPM LP, RCA 45 RPM single, Lear 8-track cartridge, Compact Cassette, Compact Disc Digital Audio, MiniDisc, MP3 CD-R, and any hard drive containing music files.
Considering how much of the industry has been locked down due to vertical and horizontal integration and oligopolistic market practices it is no suprise that they can sell so much. Just don't believe the lies they tout about how hard their lives are.
I still think that downloading has exciting possibilities for creativity and a line of flight from traditional music channels - especially through the potential of peer2peer networks and so on. But unfortunately there is a real danger of colonisation from the majors who have deep pockets and sharp lawyers.
The Internet offer the possibility of difference and a reterritorialisation of music creativity which is at essence a collective (networked) endeavour. If we allow the major's (few and fewer as they are) to close down this space with DRM and monopolisation of the distribution channels then it will be a very sad day for alternative music.
---- The Open Source Record Label : : LOCARECORDS.COM
It looks like music sales will continue to climb if the customers get something they like.
I understand the first part of your sentence.. but what's a "customer" and why do they have to like the music we sell?
sincerely,
record company executive
The recent music to come out of the UK hasn't been the usual global tripe.
... White, Welsh comedy rap)
Looking pretty and being able to sing won't sell records anymore, posters maybe but not records.
The fact that bands are back is why sales are up, seeing the guys and gals with the instruments is a good thing, more so when it comes to live performances like V or Glastonbury.
There is still room in the UK for gimic groups, take GLC for example, it put Aberdare on the map! (if you don't know of GLC (or Goldie Looking Chain ) its like a cross between Eminem, Weird Al and Tom Jones
The future is bright, the future is turned up to Whut-ohh!
Music is everybody's possession.
It's only publishers who think that people own it.
Fuck Beta
~John Lenno
Has no one noticed that, for the most part, the people who are hardcore downloading music (or movies, or games, or software, or...), and not using it as an "evaluation" to see if they want to purchase a real copy, are generally broke anyway? The IP industries are not "losing" these customers to downloading, if not for downloading, these people would simply be unable to purchase a copy either. Net loss to IP company, therefore, is near 0, if not a net gain through free advertising to people who have the money and are just previewing.
The premise, to me, that these broke students, if downloads were not available, would begin printing money or something in order to purchase music or other IP seems a bit flawed to me. Somehow, it seems more to me like they would borrow and trade CD's among friends.
The premise that downloading is theft also seems a bit flawed to me. I have seen this equated as stealing a car off a lot, and this seems a flawed analogy to me, there is not still a copy of the car left on the lot.
A more appropriate analogy seems to me that a friend of mine needs to use a car at various times. He is not really interested in having a second car, as he would only use it sporadically, but really has no other choice as his wife normally takes their car to work. This is about to make Ford money, until I come along and offer to allow him to borrow my car when he needs to.
I find it hard to swallow that, in the above scenario, I "stole" from Ford by keeping someone to have to purchase one of their products. I didn't do this by stealing something off a lot, but by sharing something I already have. This, to me, does not indict the sharer for theft, but rather the seller for greed.
To fight the war on terror, stop being afraid.
I read it as "UK Music Industry Sees Record(=ALBUM) Sales".
I was like... so... the music industry sold some records? AMAZING!
Visit the Game Programming Wiki!
A better headline would have been "UK Music Industry Admits to Record Sales".
Anonymous sources indicate that the Porn Industry Association of America (PIAA) intends to file suit against up to 20,000 illegal file swappers, with the British Porn Consortium to follow suit in the coming months. The new wave of peer-to-peer file-sharing networks has allowed pornographic material to be shared easily, causing dramatic decreases in pornography sales. The biggest sources of illegal file sharing appear to be college campuses, insecure wireless networks, and people's basements.
Also indicated, C-Net affiliate porn.com.com reports that in order to fend off the consumer backlash, the PIAA has enlisted the help of the celebrities it represents to endorse the legal purchase of pornographic material. In the coming months, superstars Pamela Anderson and Lil' Kim will deliver spots informing consumers of how stealing pornography deprives artists of the income they deserve. Furthermore, filmographer Rick Solomon will deliver spots on how the decrease in revenue stifles his innovation.
Suggested alternatives to illegal porn swapping include the new Apple-supported service iPorn, RealNetworks' secure RealPorn protocol, and Microsoft's Porn Media 9 format featuring 5.1 audio.