The WSJ is running an article with the rather hilarious title “Sales of Music, Long in Decline, Plunge Sharply“. I wonder if that’ll get any attention with the Luddites over at the RIAA that think suing college students is the answer or the executives in NY and LA that let them do it.
The article, which is behind the WSJ idiotic registration wall, is a great read.Some of the more interesting highlights include:
CD sales down 20% first quarter
800 record stores closed in 2006
Overall sale of music (physical and digital) down 10% this year
#1 albums can sell fewer then 100 units
At this pace, which isn’t likely to keep up, the music industry would be out of business before the end of the year. However, even if they squeeze out a profit in the coming quarters and manage to escape the year with only the normal 7% decline in sales, the recorded music industry as we know it is dead within 5 years. No more labels with their current contracts, no more CD, more touring and merchandising. If Musictoday goes public or joins a public company buy that stock and hold it. Thats where all the money will be in the music biz.
[...] struck me as such an apt example, especially after the WSJ article today, of how dysfunctional the labels are and how difficult it is to manage the diametrically [...]