Oops. Seems the original graph I linked to was basically wrong. This version (corrected for inflation, amongst other things) shows that indeed the music industry is in trouble. The digital world precludes the old option of a new format generating new sales – few people will pay for higher bitrate files or a new compression format. Apple tried to resurrect the concept of the album by including digital booklets but that doesn’t seem to have made much impact.
Nothing is forever. Seems to me there’s been a fundamental cultural shift occurring (fewer people want to buy albums). I don’t say that illegal sharing has caused this. That hasn’t helped i’m sure, but i’d suggest that the commercialisation of the industry, the move away from talent towards celebrity, and the rise of short-lived talent has done much more damage. And that’s all self-inflicted. http://www.businessinsider.com/these-charts-explain-the-real-death-of-the-mus…The Real Death of the Music Industry
