Study: digital sales not enough to save music industry
Posted by Dennis Sellers 
Nov 20, 2007 at 2:02am
JupiterResearch projects that although digital music spending in the US will account for more than a third of US consumer music purchases by 2012, it will not compensate for lost CD sales anticipated during that time. Detailed in a new report, “US Music Forecast, 2007-2012,” digital spending will grow to US$3.4 billion over the next five years, while CD sales will continue to decline.
“That means digital music sales will not compensate for lost CD sales in five years,” says David Card, vice president and research director at JupiterResearch. “Nor will they return the overall industry to growth. But digital’s where the growth is.”
According to the report, music downloads will replace CDs for many-but not most-music buyers in five years. For the foreseeable future, on-demand subscription services will appeal primarily to niche audiences among music aficionados.
“The music download business will serve as an alternative, but not a replacement to CDs. As detailed in our report, there are still those consumers who prefer a tangible product,” says David Schatsky, president of JupiterResearch. “One size does not fit all when it comes to acquiring music and consumer behavior toward the variety of formats available reinforces that claim.”
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Dennis Sellers
Dennis has been a newspaper editor/reporter (seven years) and teacher (seven years). He has over 10,000 magazine, newspaper and online articles to his credit. He has also covered the Mac and tech industries for over a decade for such online publications as MacCentral, MacMinute and now MacsimumNews.
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