Hello markj123-ga
CURRENT STATE:
Recording Industry Association of America (riaa) website
http://www.riaa.org/index.cfm
would be one source to locate current activity.
“RIAA Releases 2001 Consumer Profile”
http://www.riaa.org/News_Story.cfm?id=512
“CD’s Still Great Entertainment Value for Holiday Season”
http://www.riaa.org/News_Story.cfm?id=469
“Recording Industry Announces 2001 Mid-Year Shipments” Aug 2001
http://www.riaa.org/News_Story.cfm?id=446
Excerpt:
“Specifically, the dollar value of all music product shipments
decreased from $6.2 billion at mid-year 2000 to $5.9 billion at
mid-year 2001—a 4.4 percent decrease. Unit shipments dropped from
488.7 million at mid-year 2000 to 442.7 million units at mid-year
2001—a 9.4 percent decrease”
“FORMAT SHIPMENTS IN 2001
- CD Units Decrease, Yet Remain Preferred Format
Full-length CD units dropped 5.3 percent at mid-year 2001,
representing a $5.5 billion dollar value within the market, a 2.7
percent decrease in dollar value from mid-year 2000. As expected, the
compact disc format grew in popularity over other formats in the first
six months of 2001 from mid-year 2000. Whereas CDs represented close
to 86 percent of the units shipped to U.S. markets at mid-year 2000,
that number grew at mid-year 2001. CD shipments represented close to
90 percent of all units shipped.
- DVD Video Growing in Popularity Further confirmation that the disc
is the preferred format over all others is found in DVD video
shipments. DVD music video shipments continued to rise an impressive
115.9 percent at mid-year 2001 to 3.0 million units. These music
videos created a $70.1 million market in the first half of the year,
an increase of 99.2 percent from $35.2 million at mid-year 2000.
- Cassettes Decrease Markedly
Cassette units shipped to U.S. markets decreased by 42.9 percent at
mid-year 2001, representing a $176 million dollar value. This number
is down 41.9 percent from mid-year 2000.
- While Total LP Shipments Are Low, Popularity of Format Rises
Modestly
LPs increased in unit sales by 7.4 percent in the first half of 2001,
representing a $12.9 million dollar value. This number is up 3.3
percent from mid-year 2000.
- Total Singles and Full-Length Album Shipments Reduce Considerably
LP, Cassette and CD single units shipped to the U.S. market decreased
by 38.3 percent at mid-year 2001, representing a $70 million dollar
value. This number is down 24.9 percent from mid-year 2000.
Full-length album units also decreased 8.4 percent from at mid-year
2001, a $5.7 billion dollar value. This is a 4.7 percent decrease from
mid-year 2000.
Many in the music community are concerned about the continued use of
CD-Rs (compact disc recordables) and we believe this issue deserves
further analysis. A preliminary survey of tech savvy online music
enthusiasts recently conducted for the RIAA showed that nearly one out
of two consumers surveyed downloaded in the past month and nearly 70
percent burned the music they downloaded. All of this activity
continues to show the passion of the consumer for music and the need
for both legal protection and legitimate alternatives,” concluded
Rosen.”
“Jury Sets Landmark Copyright Infringement Precedent With Multimillion
Dollar Award In CD Copying Case”
http://www.riaa.org/News_Story.cfm?id=551
“the jury found that the defendants should pay $90,000 for each of
more than 1,500 songs for a total verdict of $136,260,000. It is one
of the largest, if not the largest, judgement ever rendered in a
copyright case.”
“Musical Mandates: Must the Pop Music Industry Submit to Compulsory
Licensing? by Clyde Wayne Crews Aug 2001
http://www.riaa.org/News_Story.cfm?id=444
“... record companies have been reluctant to allow consumers to
download copyrighted music from the Internet. That aversion has
generated calls from Napster and other digital media services for
compulsory licensing: they want government to force record companies
to share music. Politicians such as Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) have
reluctantly warned that mandatory licensing may be invoked as a last
resort against stonewalling record companies.
A new and ominous step in this direction is the Music Online
Competition Act, introduced by Reps. Rick Boucher (D-Va.) and Chris
Cannon (R-Utah). The bill is aimed at MusicNet and pressplay, which
are competing record-company-backed consortia set up to offer their
catalogs over the Web in the coming months. MOCA represents compulsory
licensing-lite: If MusicNet or pressplay license songs to one another,
equal terms must be granted to everyone else.
The renewed embrace of forced licensing is entirely backward.
Digitization presents an opportunity, not to expand the already
extensive regime of compulsory licensing, but to move beyond it. As a
backdrop to the compulsory licensing debate, an academic dispute rages
today over whether intellectual property should be protected at all in
the digital age. But it ought to be easier to reject the idea that
politicians should take away the ability to manage one's intellectual
property through forcible sharing.”
The following are excerpts from “Sharing Files with P2P Tools New
tools make a paradigm shift all but inevitable” by Graeme Benett Apr
1999 updated Aug 2002
thetechnozone.com
http://thetechnozone.com/pcbuyersguide/solutions/web/Napster-etc.html
‘The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has been
wielding lawsuits against Internet search engines since 1999, when it
sued Lycos over that company's search engine, which the RIAA claimed
was facilitating piracy.”
“The Killer App
A study conducted prior to the demise of Napster's free file-sharing
services in 2001 found that no less than 73 percent of students
surveyed had downloaded MP3 audio files with the tool. Napster
achieved critical mass largely due to the growing popularity of the
MP3 (MPEG-Layer 3) audio format; the file-sharing program made it
possible for virtually anybody with an Internet connection to find --
and, much to the chagrin of record companies, freely copy -- almost
any piece of recorded music in existence. In more ways than one, it
was a true "killer app" -- people were buying big hard drives and
high-speed internet connections just to be able to set up their own
PC-based music systems. Apple Computer based an entire advertising
campaign on the slogan "Rip. Mix. Burn." Sales of CD burners
skyrocketed.”
“amazingly, these legal troubles -- or the fact that the company
currently had no revenue model at all -- didn't stop Napster from
acquiring millions of dollars in venture capital during this period of
legal uncertainty. Indeed, in mid-Feb. 2001, Napster execs offered a
billion dollars to record companies over the next five years in
exchange for permission to violate their copyrights. (The record
companies said "It's not enough.") Ironically, a year later, Napster
the company was so ravaged by lawsuits that the entire shebang was
sold to German giant Bertelsmann for a paltry $8 million, in a
bankruptcy buyout.
Bertelsmann sees the company's potential to someday charge a fee for
subscriptions, downloads and other services.
However, millions of users have since discovered alternatives to
Napster that, because of their design, are virtually impossible to
shut down. To understand why, we have to look at how Napster and
roughly similar services such as AudioGalaxy (also effectively shut
down by the RIAA in 2002, along with several other music-swapping
services) worked.
If you used the audio/video search functions provided by Lycos or
Altavista to cruise the Net for downloadable tunes, you are looking at
an index stored on a bank of servers owned by the respective
companies. If these servers were shut down, the ability to find the
files would vanish. This is essentially how the RIAA shut down
Napster, AudioGalaxy and several other file-exchange services designed
around centralized servers.”
“Also of interest: Even though the RIAA effectively shut Napster down,
there are still several Napster-compatible Open Source servers and
clients available from numerous parties. (See
http://opennap.sourceforge.net/ for details.) A free program called
Napigator allows you to specify the Nap server of your choice. Thus,
Napster workalikes continue to operate "below the radar" of the RIAA's
scrutiny, and, for better or worse, below a level at which they hold
enough search results to reach the critical mass that Napster achieved
in its heyday. Still, specialized servers for specific genres of music
(Techno, Hip Hop, etc.) have their place in the cultural oeuvre. A
good place to find out more about what's currently happening in the
Napster world is www.nappyland.20m.com.”
Some voices from the music industry lamenting on the illegal online
music distribution channels
RIAA.org “Music Online: The Future is Now”
http://www.riaa.org/Artists-Issues-1.cfm
Future of Music.org
“People Used to Pay For This Stuff? by Peter DiCola Aug 2000
-Teenagers Talk About Music, the Internet, and their Beloved Napster”
http://www.futureofmusic.org/articles/focusgroup.cfm
ifpi.org “Global music sales down 5% in 2001” April 2002
http://www.ifpi.org/site-content/statistics/worldsales.html
“he global music market fell 5% in value and 6.5 % in units in 2001.
Demand for recorded music worldwide is estimated to have been stronger
than ever before, but much of the fall in sales is attributed to the
increased availability of free music via mass digital copying and the
internet.
Recorded music sales worldwide fell to US$33.7 billion. Sales of CD
albums fell globally by 5%, and there were declines in sales of
singles (-16%) and cassettes (-10%). The figures were published today
by IFPI, the organisation representing the recording industry
worldwide.”
“The effect was felt on CD sales, in most of the markets of North
America, Europe, Latin America and Asia. Declines in market value in
2001 ranged from 4.5% in the US and 9.6% in Canada to 9.2% in Germany,
8.6% in Italy, 9.8% in Austria, 14.8% in Denmark and 9.4% in Japan.
The pressure from mass copying was aggravated in many markets by the
global economic downturn, particular in the last quarter of the year.
Surveys in the most affected countries, notably the US and Germany,
show that mass copying and internet piracy is directly replacing sales
of CDs. Sales of domestic artists fared well in many major markets,
notably in France, Italy, UK, Spain and Australia. The average share
of national markets accounted for by domestic artists has risen 1% a
year to 68% over the last decade.
In Germany, 18% of 10,000 consumers surveyed said burning CDs resulted
in them buying less music. In the US, nearly 70% of people who
downloaded music burned the songs on to a CD-R disc, while 35% of
people downloading more than 20 songs per month said they now buy less
music as a result.
Three markets with vast populations and among the lowest per capita
music consumption rates in the world - China, Russia and India - saw
encouraging growth in 2001 on the back of economic improvement. Sales
in China grew by 15%; growth in India was 15%, and in Russia 17%.
Many developing markets saw an increase in commercial piracy, driven
by the accelerating spread of organised CD-R pirate operations.
Piracy, combined with economic crises, particularly hit markets in
Latin America. The most dramatic impact on legitimate sales occurred
in the region's two largest markets, Brazil (down 25%) and Mexico
(down 16%). A similar situation exists in parts of Eastern Europe,
with Poland down 28%.”
World Sales Figures 1999 IFPI figures
Australian Record Industry Association ARIA
http://www.aria.com.au/news/worldsales99.htm
The IFPI recording Industry in Numbers 2001 publication is a 200 page
book “is the definitive guide to global music market information and
contains data and comment on 76 markets across all the world's
regions. The RIN contains comprehensive analysis of year 2000 music
sales by format and is the first opportunity to review global analysis
on music sales by repertoire, sales channel, price point, genre and
consumer age band. The eighth edition contains key new material
including:
- A comprehensive summary of key music market trends over the decade ;
- Commentary and analysis on the world's top 20 music markets;
- An enhanced Appendix section containing CD player statistics and a
timeline; of events in the industry and at IFPI.
The RIN is the earliest available, most comprehensive music market
reference guide produced and is an indispensable companion to anyone
interested in knowing about today's global music industry.”
Priced at a reasonable (compared to other industry research documents)
GBP 400 (which is about USD 600) Order details and a few sample pages
(very good) here:
http://www.ifpi.org/site-content/publications/rin_order.html
sample info:
http://www.ifpi.org/site-content/library/page14riin.pdf
“The retail value of the global sound recordings market was worth
US$37 billion in 2000....The overall market saw a slight fall in both
value and units, by 1.2% and 1.1% respectively. CD album sales, a
major success throughout the decade, continued to climb in 2000, by
2.5%. However, sales of singles and cassettes fell sharply in many
markets resulting in an overall decline of these formats, by 13% for
singles and 10% for cassettes.
.... In North America - where singles sales dropped sharply - the US
and Canadian recording industries came under fire from the
proliferation of free music sites on the internet.
Largest markets by volume (units m)
CDs
1st USA 943, 2nd Japan 279, 3rd Germany 205
MC’s
1st India 178, 2nd Russia 100, 3rd USA 76
Singles
1st Japan 124, 2nd UK 66, 3rd Germany 55
LP’s
1st Japan 5.9, 2nd UK 3.2, 3rd USA 2.2
MD’s
1st UK 0.3, Germany 0.2, Japan 0.1”
FUTURE
Hints for the future include the audio hardware which is becoming
available now, the reflections in changes in the mindset of people for
music distribution and ownership.
The below viewpoint hightlights the problem caused by piracy
“Tech Trends Report #12 Perspectives on Piracy” by Graeme Bennett Apr
2002
PC Buyers Guide
http://www.pcbuyersguide.com/editorials/techtrends12-piracy.html
“It doesn't take any special insight to see that piracy is on the
rise. With paradigm-shifting tools such as Limewire, Morpheus,
AudioGalaxy, Kazaa and eDonkey providing the tools for virtually
anybody to find and download illegally distributed content, almost
anybody who's ever read a newspaper is aware of the problem. Even if
they are not dancing with the Devil, those with a high-speed
connection to the internet are already standing on the dance floor.”
“Apple chief executive Steve Jobs, meanwhile, complains that the
digital music services backed by the labels don't make it easy for
consumers to burn tracks from CDs they buy. "No one is going to use
such services," Jobs asserts. I can't speak for everyone, but I can
confirm that I will not choose a technology that limits my ability to
manage my legally acquired music on the devices I own. Apple also
attaches a sticker to its portable iPod MP3 player that says "Don't
steal music."”
The Apple iPod, ipod.com
http://www.ipod.com/ipod/
Contains either a 5, 10 or 20gb hard disk which holds up to 4000 songs
in a pocket device available for Mac and PCs, other vendors in the
electronics industry have produced similar products.
Amazon.com Electronics > Brands > Philips
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/browse/-/720032/ref%3Dbr%5Fdp%5F/103-8853902-9747837
Shows current audio hardware available:
Audio recording devices make authoring easy for the masses. (PC CD-ROM
recordings are slightly more difficult which assumes the user has some
PC literacy).
Philips CDR820 CD Recorder CD Burning: Simpler Than Ever
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00005AY8U//103-8853902-9747837?s=electronics&n=720032
and
Philips range of Expanium MP3 CD players which play CDs with MP3
recorded content straight from the PC or CD recorder e.g
Philips EXP30117
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00005ABEC//103-8853902-9747837?s=electronics&n=720032
Philips also have a ‘Internet’ audio mini Hi-Fi the FW-i1000
mp3shopping.com
http://www.mp3shopping.com/english/Philips_FW-i1000.htm
“PC-Link jukebox lets the FW-i1000 playback MP3 music from your PCs
that are linked to your home network (LAN)”
“The FW-i1000 Internet Audio Mini Hi-Fi System is the very latest in
Internet-connected innovation from Philips. Connect this powerful mini
shelf system to your broadband Internet source and enjoy digital
Internet radio streaming in from over 1,000 stations around the
globe.”
“The FW-i1000 can display the station name, and, when available, the
artist and title, while the music is playing. Furthermore, you can
also use the FW-i1000 as a playback device for MP3 files stored on a
home PC.”
Philips also announce the Streamium MC-i200 micro
philips.com
http://www.audio.philips.com/news_press/PR_MC-i200partners_080102.asp
“Philips is to give music fans unprecedented access to the huge array
of online musical content thanks to agreements Philips has secured
with six of the world’s leading names in broadband Internet-based
personalized music distribution, to provide online content for the new
Philips Streamium MC-i200 Internet audio micro-hi-fi.
AOL Music, andante, MP3.com, MUSICMATCH, Radio Free Virgin and iM
Networks are the first six online music companies to provide
aggregated streaming audio content for the new Philips Streamium
MC-i200, the world’s first micro hi-fi to access multiple digital
music services via a broadband Internet connection.”
Flash presentation of the MC-i200
http://www.audio.philips.com/streamium/mci200.asp
The new hardware points to growing MP3 popularity, the MC-i200 micro
and it’s broadband connectivity with content providers signal the the
growth of officially distributed and rights managed music, that the
pirate market demonstrated as being so popular.
The Future of Music Coalition
http://www.futureofmusic.org
“The Future of Music Coalition is a not-for-profit collaboration
between members of the music, technology, public policy and
intellectual property law communities”
“Want to stay on top of music/tech issues?”
Subscribe to their monthly newsletter
subscribe@futureofmusic.org
Excerpt from this page of futureofmusic.org
http://www.futureofmusic.org/manifesto/
“SDMI
The Secure Digital Music Initiative (SDMI), spearheaded by the RIAA,
was an attempt to pull together a limited group of powerful consumer
electronics manufacturers; PC manufacturers, and record labels to
develop a copyright-enabled alternative to the MP3 format. It is
viewed by many as a misguided and desperate scramble by those in the
existing music business monopoly to maintain their stranglehold on the
channels of distribution through the application of a standardized
encryption or watermarking program.
As with most technologies that are conceived and developed in a
no-feedback vacuum, without the desires of potential consumers in mind
(not to mention an understanding of the limits of encryption
technology), it was destined to fail.”
ifpi.org “A "music for free" mentality is challenging the future of
the European recording industry” July 2002 excerpt
http://www.ifpi.org/site-content/press/20020710b.html
“Jay Berman, Chairman and CEO of IFPI, the organisation representing
major and independent record labels, said: " 'Music for Free' may
sound attractive, but when it is taken without the permission of
artists it comes at a high price for the entire music business and
society in general. 'Music for Free' means less new music, fewer new
artists, less choice, thousands less jobs and a poorer European
culture. This is a critical issue in which European governments have
an important role to play in terms of legislation and creating public
awareness of the problem. The future success of the European music
industry is at stake." “
“CD burning has also badly hit the European music sector. In Germany,
the number of blank CDs used to burn music was estimated at 182
million in 2001, compared to 185 million CD album sales, according to
a survey from March 2002 by market research firm Gfk. In Spain, 71
million albums were sold in 2001 compared to an estimated 52 million
blank CDs used to burn music, according to a survey by Millward
Brown/Alef.
On a global scale, IFPI's sales figures for 2001 showed a 5% fall in
the value of the recorded music worldwide and a corresponding fall in
CD album sales. These declines were steeper in some European countries
last year including Germany (down 9%), Austria (down 10%), Demark
(down 19%) and Belgium (down 10%). These markets experienced similar
falls in the first quarter of this year.”
BBC News “Pirate web threat to music industry” April 2000
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/702134.stm
“Global online sales are expected to account for 8% of the total music
market by 2004.”
“It highlights the fact that teenagers are among the biggest devotees
of both music and the internet, yet they are excluded from
legitimately buying online as they have to be at least 18.”
(perhaps it’s no wonder that legitimate paid for downloaded music is
not proving that popular especially if there are no payment vehicles)
“Culture Secretary Chris Smith said: "Consumers are driving the online
revolution, and they want the ability to get the music they want, when
they want it and where they want it.
"If the UK music industry is to continue to prosper it must give
consumers what they need and a safe way of paying for it." “
A growing trend is the appearance of commerical concerns where music
is sold digitally e.g.
Rioport
http://www.rioport.com
and subscription based services such as Wippit
“RIOPORT AND AUDIORAMP ANNOUNCE PARTNERSHIP TO DELIVER SECURE
E-COMMERCE MUSIC SERVICES FOR DIGITAL HOME STEREOS”
http://www.rioport.com/RioCorpPressReleases/1,3614,,00.html?article_id=1000685
“Through the combination of the two companies' technologies and
services, consumer electronics companies can design digital home
stereos that allow consumers to easily discover, purchase, playback
and store digital music content, whether as individual downloads or
through a music subscription service, directly from the Internet
without the use of a PC.”
“RIOPORT BOLSTERS ITS INDUSTRY LEADING PULSEONE SERVICE WITH DIGITAL
ENVOY'S NETACUITY GEOGRAPHIC TARGETING SOLUTION”
http://www.rioport.com/RioCorpPressReleases/1,3614,,00.html?article_id=1000681
“RioPort's PulseOne Service provides the company's partners, including
e-tailers, broadband and wireless service providers and consumer
electronics companies, with a private-labeled, outsourced music
content delivery service that enables them to let their customers try,
rent, buy and access digital music anywhere.”
http://www.wippit.com/
which is the logical progression of illegal MP3’s
In-Stat “New Products, Services and Memory Choices Spur Digital Audio
Growth” June 2002
In-Stat MDR Market Alerts
http://www.instat.com/newmk.asp?ID=236
“The high-tech market research firm reports that with the availability
of file-swapping and new online subscription services and portable
players with 10GB and higher storage capacity, consumers now have more
choices than ever for how they enjoy their music. As a result,
revenues derived from sales of online music (both physical media
products and those that are downloaded) and digital music players will
experience exceptional growth rates. Despite current controversy over
the delivery of digital music, online music revenues are expected to
grow at a compound annual growth rate of 33.4% between 2001 and 2006
and portable digital music player unit shipments (including solid
state and revolving media products) will grow from about 7.2 million
in 2002 to almost 30 million in 2006.”
“In-Stat/MDR has also found that:
- When comparing online music sales by segment, revenues from actual
"physical media" music products will account for the lion’s share of
total online sales. Revenues from downloading and streaming are
expected to remain less than 10% of total revenues through the year
2004.”
IDC Singapore “Bandwidth Constraints, High Prices and Piracy Holding
Back Asia's Online Music Industry, says IDC” Feb 2001
http://www.idc.com.sg/Press/2001/PR-AP-online_music.htm
“The environment for online sales of physical format music is
currently much more accommodating. In 2000, online sales of physical
format music accounted for 94% of total online music revenues, or
US$27 million. IDC's survey of 40,000 Asian Internet users that year
indicated that music CDs and cassettes were the second most common
selling products online in Asia after books. By 2004, online sales of
physical format music will account for 59% of total online music sales
and generate US$433 million in revenue.”
“IDC sees four types of online music sites emerging as the online
music industry unfolds: independent music sites, single-label music
sites, multiple-label music sites, and multiple-label peer-to-peer
networks. A variety of music titles will be a key factor in
determining which sites will succeed. Online music sellers that have
prohibitive selections are likely to be shunned by surfers looking for
their favorite music, regardless of label.
As such, IDC believes that many online music sites need to reconsider
their business models to attain success. Some of IDC's recommendations
are as follows:
1. Capitalize real estate that provides offline payment fulfilment and
broadband access for fast digital music download.
2. Harness the email system to increase customer contact and
"single-serve" samples of digital music files via click-on hyperlinks
on the email.
3. Consider the ASP model for licensed digital music.”
infowar.com “Net to Spur Media Markets to $1Tril by 2004 - Report” by
Steven Bonistell, Newsbytes Sept 2000
http://www.infowar.com/survey/00/survey_091400b_j.shtml
“... despite the legal battles being waged over freely available
copies of popular CDs online, PricewaterhouseCoopers said spending on
recorded music around the world will grow at approximately 4 percent
over the next five years, reaching $42.8 billion in 2004, up from
$35.3 billion last year.
The company said the music industry will indeed see increased piracy
as a result of digital distribution methods. However, it said the flip
side of that story is that digital distribution will lead to
"substantial" cost-cutting and support "lower prices and higher
volumes without necessarily cutting into margins."
Again, said PricewaterhouseCoopers, the US will lead the way in online
sales of recorded music.
"Legitimate sales" of digital music online in the US are expected to
reach $1.5 billion by 2004, the company said, adding that the number
would represent 8.2 percent of all music sales in the country.”
JupiterResearch “Subscriptions Will Account For Almost Two Thirds Of
US Digital Music Sales In 2006, Reports Jupiter Media Metrix” jan 2002
http://www.jmm.com/xp/jmm/press/2002/pr_011502.xml
“... regardless of the current market downturn, US digital music sales
-via digital subscription models and single paid downloads -will
generate $1.6 billion in revenue by 2006, with $1.0 billion, or nearly
63 percent, coming from subscriptions alone.”
“"Digital music subscriptions have the potential to revive the
flagging music industry," said Aram Sinnreich, Jupiter senior analyst.
"The key to unlocking this market will be remixing the distribution
chain-taking advantage of digital media's fluidity to allow labels,
music sellers and technology companies to focus on what they do best.”
“Growth of Subscriptions to Pit Media Against Retailers
By year-end 2003, subscriptions will be the dominant digital music
product format. According to Jupiter analysts, the growth of
subscriptions as a product category will open a new front in the
online music wars, pitting retailers against media companies. As the
product category matures, Jupiter analysts envision digital music
subscriptions that would look less like traditional music products and
more like programmed, entertainment environments found on media sites
or on TV. This intense battle for subscribers that will soon result
between media companies and music retailers will fuel product
innovation and lead to a $1.6 billion digital music market in 2006.
Growing Market, Growing Pains
Jupiter analysts now forecast that the online music market will grow
to $5.5 billion in 2006 - up from $900 million in 2001. The economic
downturn coupled with a later-than-anticipated launch of the online
subscription music services and lower overall consumer spending on
music caused Jupiter to revise its original July 2001 music forecast
of $6.2 billion. Jupiter analysts believe that online music growth
will be a strong catalyst for the growth of overall music sales, with
the former accounting for nearly a third of total US music sales in
2006.”
EXPERT IN THE FIELD
ifpi
http://www.ifpi.org/site-content/library/newsletter8.pdf
As the Future of Music Coalition is a not-for-profit organisation I
guess they are open to intellectual discussions, as they have made
themselves known with their backgrounds and have emailable links on
their members page
http://www.futureofmusic.org/members.cfm
So possibly you could consult them in for more indepth information.
Another possible contact might be Mike at
Washington Area Music Association WAMA
http://wamadc.com/wama/ask_mike.html
Yet another ‘possible’ expert is Christopher Knab an independent music
business consultant based in Seattle, Washington. He is available for
private consultations on promoting and marketing independent music
(however he is not strictly a ‘retail’ person) he wrote the article
“Online E-Music Retailing” Christopher Knab Fourfront Media & Music
Aug 2000
http://www.musicbizacademy.com/articles/musicbusiness/onlineretailing.htm
Here is a success story of somebody who decided to sell independent
music labels online
Music Industry News Network “CD Baby Passes Million Dollar Mark In
Musician Payouts” Aug 2002
http://mi2n.com/press.php3?press_nb=31397
SUMMARY
Although the issue of piracy is affecting sales of legal CDs (and is a
major problem) that has robbed the industry of large amounts of
revenue, the industry is clamping down on those sources (which is a
key factor if the legal sources are to survive). Digital delivery
methods are being trialled and slowly being introduced suiting the new
lifestyle of the younger user and their new generation of audio
equipment. In the near future the sales of physical CDs will continue
to dominate digital delivery sales by a large margin, but any merchant
trading online will need to be aware of possibilities to offer a
download option to keep up with trends. In the more distant future the
reduced costs of digital delivery will surely be the way to go with
the current balance tipping in favour of digital delivery at some
point, echoed by the increased availability of ‘digital’ ‘internet’
audio devices. Despite current high levels of piracy, projected market
figures from industry sources look reasonably optimistic.
Search Strategy:
"record industry" trends report
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=%22record+industry%22+trends+report
philips cd internet broadband mp3 player radio
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=philips+cd+internet+broadband+mp3+player+radio
experts RIAA consult feedback
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=experts+RIAA+consult+feedback
market 2004 "music industry" OR "record industry" OR "recording
industry"
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=market+2004++%22music+industry%22+OR+%22record+industry%22++OR+%22recording+industry%22
setting up online music store
://www.google.com/search?q=setting+up+online+music+store&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&start=10&sa=N
I hope that helps,
if you need any clarification to the answer, just ask.
kind regards
lot-ga |
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