January 22, 2010 Music Industry Counts the Cost of Piracy By ERIC PFANNER NY Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/22/business/global/22music.html?ref=business&pagewanted=print PARIS — Worldwide sales of recorded music fell by about 10 percent last year, a trade group said Thursday, as revenue growth from digital services was insufficient to compensate for a continuing fall in sales of compact discs. The group, the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, used the publication of the figures as an opportunity to renew its calls for a tougher crackdown on digital piracy, which it blames for a 30 percent decline in global music sales from 2004 to 2009. “We’re all fed up with talking about piracy,” said John Kennedy, chief executive of the trade group. “It’s boring talking about piracy, but it is the problem and we can’t avoid it.” Critics say music companies have been too slow to embrace new online business models that are attractive enough to lure music fans away from pirate sites. Over the past year, however, Internet streaming services like Spotify, which offer free listening, supported by advertising or subscriptions, have gained a growing following. Revenue from streaming is accelerating as growth in sales of digital downloads from services like Apple’s iTunes slows. Global sales via the Internet, mobile phones and other digital methods rose 12 percent last year to $4.2 billion. Digital sources accounted for 27 percent of recording industry revenue, up from 21 percent a year earlier, the trade group said. But sales of CDs fell by about 16 percent worldwide, causing overall industry revenue to decline to about $15.8 billion in 2009 from about $17.5 billion a year earlier, in figures adjusted for swings in exchange rates. “Sadly, today we are not at the turning point,” Mr. Kennedy said. “I still hope that in a few years’ time, that point will come.” He said that the industry slump, which has persisted since a 2001 peak in revenue, was hurting the development of local music in a number of markets hit hard by piracy, as record labels have less money to invest in new artists. In France, for example, the number of albums released by domestic artists has fallen by 60 percent, he said. In Spain, where music sales have collapsed, there were no albums by domestic artists among the top 50 sellers last year, compared with 10 as recently as 2003, the music federation said. In a report, it blamed what it called a “culture of state-tolerated apathy toward illegal file-sharing.” Worldwide, the industry federation says, 95 percent of the music downloaded via the Internet is pirated, a percentage that has not changed over the past year. In recent months, governments in South Korea, Taiwan and France have enacted tough laws aimed at curbing unauthorized copying by authorizing the cutoff of persistent pirates’ Internet connections. Music executives want other governments to adopt such measures, which have encountered fierce resistance from civil liberties groups. “It’s not enough for us to be proactive with our business partners,” said Eric Daugan, a senior vice president at Warner Music International. “We also need our governments to help.” -- ================================ George Antunes, Political Science Dept University of Houston; Houston, TX 77204 Voice: 713-743-3923 Fax: 713-743-3927 Mail: antunes at uh dot edu *********************************** * POST TO [email protected] * *********************************** Medianews mailing list [email protected] http://lists.etskywarn.net/mailman/listinfo/medianews
