Slump in music sales The global slump in music sales gathered pace in 2002, music industry figures have revealed. Sales dropped by 7% around the world last year after a 5% dip in 2001, according to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI). The industry's inability to beat what it has labelled internet pirates and the "massive proliferation" of CD copying have been blamed. The IFPI recently said "piracy" put the jobs of 600,000 people in the industry at risk. Other factors in the slump were economic uncertainty and competition from DVDs and video games, the IFPI said. But sales of music DVDs - up 58% - provided one note of optimism. Stars including Madonna, Eminem, Sir Elton John and Britney Spears have all condemned unauthorised downloading, with Oasis branding fans who downloaded their latest album "thieves". The United States suffered a 10% drop in album sales in 2002, mainly because fans were getting the music from the internet instead, the IFPI said. Fewer major releases are selling in their multi-millions in the US, and record companies are trying to get to grips with the problem. Rock group Linkin Park imposed strict security on their latest album, Meteora, avoiding internet leaks - and going to number one last week, selling 800,000 copies. Their 2001 debut sold 4.8 million copies in the US - but was reported to have been downloaded up to another eight million times. In 2003, some albums are bucking the trend, with rapper 50 Cent selling four million copies in two months despite being leaked onto the internet. Western European sales fared "relatively well", with France continuing to buck the global downward trend, the figures showed. In the UK, a 3% drop ended five years of growth.
Most of the tunes I download I wouldn't be able to buy if I tried especially since I've got CD decks. That means that they are technically losing my business...well that's what I tell myself anyway. It must be worse for smaller producers, making a whole album just to see it appear on soulseek within a week
MP3 downloaders - Imagine you could put a price on all the music you have on your computer. If you could sell them all for the price they'd sell on vynl/CD you'd be rich. Of course, that wouldn't happen - but at the same time I'd say I'm not helping the industry, since I rarely buy CDs and I have... 1,301 files totalling at 8.04 GB. Most of those are MP3s, or Sets on MP3, with a couple of other files maybe mangled in there and I've not spent a penny on them. Makes you think like..
