World Music Sales Projected to Decline Until 2005

By then someone should have figured out how to make money again:

The value of recorded music sales is likely to fall 6 per cent this year to $28.7bn as a combination of intense price competition, volatile consumer demand and piracy continues to dog the industry.

Sector forecasts published on Wednesday by Music Week, the London-based trade magazine, suggested that the global music market would continue to decline until 2005 – further threatening the profits of leading labels such as BMG, Universal and EMI.

Music Week said that overall sales would be down 15 per cent between 2001 and 2004, when the value of album purchases is forecast to reach $28.1bn. At that level, the market would be almost 30 per cent below its peak in 1996.

The decline, which is expected to level off in the middle of the decade, has forced a number of music companies to explore alternative revenue streams including on-line tie-ups with web servers and deals granting a share of artists’ touring and merchandise revenues. [Financial Times]