shouting loudly

Music Biz: Blooming or Dying? Same Data, Two Frames

In two different news stories summarizing the latest Nielsen Soundscan music sales report, the music industry is cast as growing at a remarkable clip or continuing its long, slow decline.

Variety takes the latter tack, moaning, “Album sales take a tumble in 2007.” In contrast, the Centre Daily Times celebrates the growth in total sales from 1.2 billion units in 2006 to 1.4 billion last year.

Of course, as this story filters into the rest of the media, Variety’s spin will undoubtedly carry more weight. Yet the shift to digital units is hardly all doom and gloom.

Digital delivery is cheaper–especially for the labels, considering that Apple, Walmart, and Amazon pay to host and move the files. End users do a great deal of the marketing for the labels. Ringtones are also a robust market. In short, this data suggests the year-to-year change in 2007 is roughly a wash.

It is painful for the music industry to change its business practices away from the physical distribution of albums to the digital distribution of tracks. For most industries, the collective response is, “Tough luck.” Nobody mourned the passing of the buggy whip industry. Yet the music industry gets political and rhetorical support befitting an endangered species.

In the long term, the music industry should be expected to adapt to consumer expectations–a strategy they finally seem to be taking to heart.

(Thanks to Joe Turow for the Variety link.)