Friday, June 20, 2008

CD Sales In Meltdown

CD sales falling faster than digital music sales rise
Global music sales dropped 8 percent to $19.4 billion in 2007, according to a report from the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry. Revenue came in at its slowest pace since at least 1997, the first year for which the body issued figures. Physical sales of CDs and DVDs fell 13 percent to $15.9 billion. Sales of downloaded songs and mobile-phone ringtones rose 34 percent to $2.9 billion.

Well, let's see ... if I go into a rotten, stinking, filthy, noisy, and disorganized Virgin Megastore to buy a soundtrack, I see the $20 price tag:



and I walk out. (And don't kid yourself; the in-store price is higher than the struck-out one!)

I go home and call up the iTunes Store:



Now which one do you think I'm more likely to buy?

Even a "Mega" store doesn't deign to stock everything:



Gee, they really want to make some money, huh?

Meanwhile at home:



Now, could it also be the more realistic prices at the iTunes Store accounts for some percentage of the drop in overall profits?

Is all of this enough of a clue, or would you also like to buy a vowel?

Take your time. This quiz has no deadline.

You can wait until your entire industry drops dead before supplying an answer, in fact!

And when you're dead? Don't expect flowers or tears -- from anyone!

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