Digital Sales on the Rise

Its funny to me when I have conversations with artists, industry pros or people in or around the business that just don't see or don't accept whats happening. We have new mediums popping up daily that allow music to be transferred, borrowed and sold across the Internet. Retail outlets are shutting down and businesses are closing quarterly. If you walk into a retail outlet today and draw a comparison to their music section from three years ago you are looking at a fraction of what once was.

I just talked to an artists the other day who swears if we distribute his music physically he will sell a ton of records. This coming from someone who has not had any digital sales and is not willing to promote and sell CD's themselves. If they are not willing to buy their own album what makes them think that others will.

CD sales are going to come from live performances and directly from the artist to the consumer. Physical CD sales are going to be dead in about three years. Or at least that is the prediction. Every report I read indicates physical CD sales are down and digital sales are up.

"Warner Music Group managed to narrow its quarterly losses and beat Wall Street expectations...the label revealed losses of $25 million"

"Sales actually dropped ...based on continued CD sales drops"

"On the digital side, revenue grow 15 percent"

"Digital recorded music sales rose by 13.9%"

"Total digital revenue grows 15% to $199 million;
Digital revenue climbs to 47% of U.S. Recorded Music revenue"

"digital revenue grew 11% sequentially and was up 12% from the prior-year quarter."

"transition from physical sales to digital sales in the recorded music industry"

"a reduction by retailers in the amount of floor and shelf space dedicated to music."

I don't think it can be any clearer, but digital music is the future. Grab a hold of it now and maximize every opportunity you have.