You don’t have to follow the music industry closely to encounter news reports about the continuing decline in sales of recorded music. Piracy, YouTube, video games, and a decline in the quality of popular music have all been offered to explain the dramatic drop in sales since their peak in the 1970s.
A February 18 article on the Business Insider site by Michael DeGusta takes data released in January, which paints a dire picture, and argues that the outlook is actually worse when compared with data from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
There are charts aplenty for those interested in perusing the data, but DeGusta’s point is clear.
“Looks like the smaller and shrinking recorded music industry is here to stay.”
Sigh…
The full piece is available online.
