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US CD sales continue to plummet

22 March 2007 12:06 by Andre "DVDBack23" Yoskowitz | 21 comments

Sales of physical CDs in the US have plummeted about 20 percent in the first quarter of 2007 as more and more consumers turn to digital media.

89 million CDs have been sold from the start of the year until March 18 compared to 112 million CDs sold during the same period in 2006. All figures are according the industry tracker Nielsen SoundScan.

Individual song downloads rose from 242 million tracks during the period last year to 288 million this year in the same period.

Digital music industry analyst Michael McGuire had this to say: "Consumers are sending a message to artists that while you may have put a lot of thought into the sequence of the album, I only like these three songs"

"It comes back to consumers being in complete control of their media experience, and that is not going backwards,"

"This is a tough business being a record label because they have to find new sources of revenue."

Although statistics show that CD sales have been in decline for at least the last 5 years, they still account for almost 90 percent of album purchases.

McGuire also had this to say: "The last couple of years the music industry didn't move fast enough and they are trying to catch up now...But, the whole digital thing is a train that is picking up speed."

Two of the four major studios,EMI and Warner Music have been quick to invest in online "search, discovery and recommendation" tools including websites that allow users to share recommendations and even playlists.

McGuire feels that the studios should use the internet to their advantage such as using online communities and forums as a path to lead consumers to online music stores.

"The imperative is for studios to find as many frictionless transaction paths as possible for digital content," McGuire said. "An important component is embracing discovery tools on social networks."

As always, music piracy is a huge problem, but one that the industry is having trouble containing.

Source:
Breitbart

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Paladore (Junior Member) 22 March 2007 14:04
i myself always buy my cd's from a store but are they factoring in that the music today is utter garbage?.....seriously, not much good music is comming out of the new millenium. [ + quote]
Halen5150 (Member) 22 March 2007 14:15
@Paladore Amen to that brother...lol...today's music sux... I'll stick with my maiden, pantera, and old metallica cds thank you very much! [ + quote] This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 22 March 2007 14:15
ZippyDSM (AfterDawn Addict) 22 March 2007 15:02
CD music or CD recordable media? either way...both are obsolete.... [ + quote]
DVDBack23 (Staff Member) 22 March 2007 15:08
Originally posted by ZIppyDSM: CD music or CD recordable media? either way...both are obsolete.... music cds, but yes both are absolutely obselete now. these companies need to start moving forward [ + quote]
ZippyDSM (AfterDawn Addict) 22 March 2007 15:15
Quote: Originally posted by ZIppyDSM: CD music or CD recordable media? either way...both are obsolete.... music cds, but yes both are absolutely obselete now. these companies need to start moving forward the trouble is they cant,they refuse to step forward without being able to make 3X profit so they sue consumers and buy off politicians until they win. [ + quote]
Auslander (AfterDawn Addict) 22 March 2007 15:31
CDs still sound great, though. not many people want to invest in dvd audio any other format, as CDs still work so well. [ + quote]
ZippyDSM (AfterDawn Addict) 22 March 2007 15:47
Originally posted by Auslander: CDs still sound great, though. not many people want to invest in dvd audio any other format, as CDs still work so well. I want MP3 on DVD device :3 I'd rather pay 100 for it than a crappy Ipod [ + quote]
AlmostOz (Junior Member) 22 March 2007 16:26
Quote: music cds, but yes both are absolutely obselete now. these companies need to start moving forward yes they are costing themselves revenue by being stubborn and lazy. internet users have the power to choose what is presented to them these days, and the big companies don't seem to like that. if i was a company i'd love it. people pick artists like lilly allen for you, and you sign them up, guarenteed that they'll do some sales for you, its even better than american idol [ + quote]
Blackjax (Member) 22 March 2007 19:13
Quote: [quote] Originally posted by ZIppyDSM: CD music or CD recordable media? either way...both are obsolete.... music cds, but yes both are absolutely obselete now. these companies need to start moving forward the trouble is they cant,they refuse to step forward without being able to make 3X profit so they sue consumers and buy off politicians until they win.[/quote] And don't forget Zippy they also want the consumer to fork over hard earned cash and YET still not have any control over the digital media they buy aka DRM! CD's may be obsolete but they are still physical media you as a consumer have control over. Albeit with a little help from a certain company! [ + quote] This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 22 March 2007 19:14
RNR1995 (Inactive) 23 March 2007 4:59
I agree with Paladore Does anyone realize that if they make a $10.00 profit on each cd that is about 4.5 BILLION dollars a year profit they made last year! No wonder they can sue the whole planet for everything they want they have all the money! [ + quote]
ZippyDSM (AfterDawn Addict) 23 March 2007 5:37
Originally posted by RNR1995: I agree with Paladore Does anyone realize that if they make a $10.00 profit on each cd that is about 4.5 BILLION dollars a year profit they made last year! No wonder they can sue the whole planet for everything they want they have all the money! thats why they need a good governmental cleaning,they are so addicted to X6 profit they wont know how to handle a "normal" profit. [ + quote]
frankacne (Newbie) 23 March 2007 7:22
It seems to me that the big record companies actually have a death wish. Not content with just killing the goose that lays the golden eggs, they are even about to attempt to destroy Internet Radio. They dont seem to realise that Radio and Internet Streams are where people find new music which they will purchase if its any good. Limiting playlists like Clear Channel do is a recipe for banal and crappy music which few people are likely to buy. The continued crash in CD sales is clear proof of this. The only way to increase sales is to free up the music biz, remove DRM, and leave Radio alone. If they dont, musicians will still make good music, and punters like me will still find it one way or another. The only difference will be that Sony BMG, Warners, EMI, Universal and other bottom feeders, will no longer be involved and will sink into the slime they seem to inhabit. Having watched the way the big companies operate since the 60s, I for one will not shed any tears if this happens. [ + quote]
ChiefBrdy (Junior Member) 23 March 2007 9:30
What's a CD? [ + quote]
FredBun (Senior Member) 23 March 2007 9:36
your kidding me right, lol. [ + quote]
DVDBack23 (Staff Member) 23 March 2007 10:03
Originally posted by ChiefBrdy: What's a CD? hehehe MAX OUT DOWNLOAD SPEEDS USING UTORRENT http://www.afterdawn.com/guides/archive/utorrent_guide.cfm How to join .avi's http://forums.afterdawn.com/thread_view.cfm/361513 How to convert .avi to DVD with Menus http://forums.afterdawn.com/thread_view.cfm/1/272946 [ + quote]
wetsparks (Member) 23 March 2007 11:07
Frankly I'm surprised they sold any CDs at all. Has anything good been released this year? or the past 6 months? [ + quote]
Auslander (AfterDawn Addict) 23 March 2007 11:26
i would say Korn has, but they've been on the decline since Life is Peachy... ...i'd say the only good stuff i've heard has been underground or indy. [ + quote]
ian23 (Newbie) 23 March 2007 11:40
most of the music i have bought in the last year or so is albums from lesser known bands that i heard of from friends or from myspace. and i buy it directly from the band so F the big corporations. [ + quote]
Fiji5555 (Junior Member) 23 March 2007 12:31
I have no extra money to buy music much less food ...so I download and I mean new stuff that's not well known too....plenty out there for everyone. [ + quote]
voyager (Junior Member) 23 March 2007 13:05
I still with my 80's Music and my forever love to metal music cuz i sold my soul to Rock'N Roll. [ + quote]
madphil69 (Inactive) 25 March 2007 5:42
There there, never mind. I expect after layoffs/redundancies the CEO and board will still get nice fat bonuses. In other words, tough sh*t. [ + quote]