The Recorded Music industry is in decline despite the rise in Digital Revenues. Music publishing revenues have continued to grow slowly year on year, but recorded music revenues continue to fall as the rise in digital music fails to compensate for the fall in CD sales in all major markets. This trend appears to be irreversible, as digital downloading changes the behaviour and needs of consumers, making artists less dependent on the large record labels. Digital music is now being licensed across a range of platforms, in many different formats, with many new partners, and based on new business models.
Reiko Uchida, 15 January 2008