The music industry globally is set for major structural transformation, as the sales of music CDs continue to fall faster than the rate at which digital downloads are rising. The contracting recorded music industry will be forced to embrace radical changes in business models and practices.
The US Copyright Royalty Board has published its ruling which effectively imposes a truce between the demands of songwriters, music labels and digital music services by keeping royalties on CDs, music downloads, online streaming services and ringtones broadly unchanged. The ruling gives none of the parties what they asked for but should be good news for the growing digital music market in the US, and is likely to set the tone for other jurisdictions.
Michelle Wong, 14 October 2008
MySpace has launched it music store at long last with all the major record labels on board but it will only be available in the US to start with. The focus of the store will be on full-length audio streaming, with music downloads provided by Amazon MP3, so the service is not really a direct...
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25 September 2008
Apple's multi-prong strategy, hatched in the tough times from 2001 to 2003, is now paying off handsomely. In those difficult days when revenues stayed stubbornly flat, and margins hovered around zero, Apple re-invented its core Mac range of computers, and launched the iPod and iTunes to become a...
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31 March 2008
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...
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15 January 2008
The Major record labels are struggling with fundamental changes in the music industry. Music Publishing revenues are holding up and growing slowly but Recorded Music revenues are in decline, with growth in Digital revenues failing to compensate for the falls in CD sales. New business models are...
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14 January 2008