IT'S NOT JUST FILE-SHARING

Interesting article from the BBC examining the less obvious causes of the decline in CD sales. According to the article, it’s not just the fault of file-sharing as RIAA would have us believe. Piracy is also a major factor, so much so that it is claimed that 90% of CDs in China are pirate copies. However, more innocuously, part of the downturn in CD sales is due to the fact that people who in the 1980s and 90s were seeking to buy CDs to replace their vinyl collections have completed the process. Many of the people who do file-share do so because they just can’t get the heavily-plugged singles that they want alone without paying for a complete album which they don’t necessarily want. Finally, music isn’t as important to young people as it used to be with the rise of other distractions such as brands, clothing and of course, mobile phones. However, the article isn’t really clear whether this means that young people listen to less music or that that aren’t willing to pay for music because of the other demands on their finances and so are more likely to resort to file sharing.

Mark Mulligan, a consultant from Jupiter Research, whose site is a treasure trove of this type of thing, is heavily quoted. Read his blog here .