Theirs is still a deeply troubled business. Since 2000, when online file-sharing took off, global recorded-music sales have fallen from $26.9 billion a year to $15.9 billion, according to the IFPI, a trade group. Apple has helped to smash profitable albums into less profitable singles.
Digital outlets such as iTunes are not growing nearly fast enough to offset the decline in CD sales. Indeed, in many countries they are stuck in a niche. In Japan, 73% of spending on recorded music in 2010 was on CDs, DVDs and vinyl. Fewer than one-fifth of Britons bought digital music last year.
Apple’s iCloud is not just a storage locker for music. It will search devices for tracks purchased from the iTunes store, and automatically give customers the rights to download the music to any Apple device. Yet music companies do not expect Apple or any other technological behemoth to save them. Few believe recorded music is about to rebound.
Read more at The Economist
