CD Music Sales Down 20% In Q1 2007

prostoalex writes "Music sales are not just falling, they're plummeting — by as much as 20% when you compare January-March 2007 with the 2006 numbers. The revenue numbers are actually worse, since CD prices are under pressure. The Wall Street Journal lists many factors contributing to the rapid decline: 800 fewer retail outlets (Tower Records' demise alone closed 89); increasingly negative attitude towards CD sales from big-box retailers (Best Buy now dedicates less floor space to CDs in favor of better-selling items); and file sharing, among others. Songs are being traded at a rate about 17 times the iTunes Store's recent rate of sales. Diminishing CD sales means that you don't have to sell as many to get on the charts. The 'Dreamgirls' movie soundtrack recently hit #1 by selling 60,000 CDs in a week, a number that wouldn't have made the top 30 in 2005."

Comments

Re:Welcome to the Asian markets

[Otter]

Asia still has a thriving music industry.

Except for a handful of anime dorks, who outside of Asia listens to any Asian music? It's all godawful cloned spew aimed at 14-year-old girls -- i.e. exactly what you'd expect from a profit model driven solely by concerts and bento box sales.

Re:Stage Artists will do fine, perhaps even better

[amper]

You don't see the flaw in your logic, do you? Sure, the acts which have already established themselves as money makers might do well in a post-recording sales world, but it's not going to be as easy as all that. How much do you actually know about the live entertainment industry? From your comment, it would seem you know very little.