“The beleaguered global music industry says it expects to see an increase in music sales next year. New legal download services combined with an anti-piracy campaign have given the industry cause for optimism. Keith Jopling, head of market research at the International Federation for the Phonographic Industry, said: ‘We are turning a corner,'” Darren Waters reports for BBC News Online. “Global sales of CDs have fallen for several years but there are encouraging signs that they too are improving. Music sales world-wide fell by 7.6% in 2003, the fourth consecutive year that sales had declined.”
Waters reports, “Mr Jopling said he believed that new download services such as Napster, iTunes and Rhapsody had fuelled a resurgence of interest in music. He said: ‘I have a theory that there is something about these services such as iTunes and Napster which is sparking an interest in music which is leading to increase physical sales. The people joining legal services are music fans who have a chance to get excited about music again. What we are most happy about, so far, most people who are consuming music online are buying CDs as well.’ He said that the online services were also informing people about new music something, something the industry had struggled with previously.”
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Apple’s iTunes is about 10 times larger than Napster and Rhapsody combined. So to include Napster and Rhapsody with iTunes inferring equality is ludicrous. And it makes the market researcher saying it sound less than up-to-date with the current market share situation. iTunes Music Store dominates significantly. Using the statement above as a template to illustrate our point, it would be like saying, “soda companies such as Moxie, Coca-Cola and Cheerwine have fuelled a resurgence of interest in carbonated beverages.” Most of you dear readers probably need links for two of those. No one needs the link for Coke.
