Without reading the original article, it seems that they are trying to put
a metric on media consumption. In the 1990s/2000s I bought CD
subscriptions, now I buy media streaming. So, it is like comparing apples
and oranges, because some of the physical distribution before was about
supplying the demand for the equivalent of "streaming". I go to YouTube to
listen to music, when I want to hear a song I don't currently have on the
device I have with me. I don't think society at large has stopped
appreciating music, only that what we are paying for is not as trackable
(by the same metrics).
- Hugh
On Wed, Apr 15, 2015 at 10:59 AM, Tom Fine <[log in to unmask]>
wrote:
> Reported in today's Wall Street Journal, with an equally depressing
> graphic:
>
> 1. 1996 global music sales as reported by International Federation of the
> Phonographic Industry: $40 billion.
>
> 2. 2004 global music sales as reported by IFPI: $21 billion.
>
> 3. 2015 global music sales as reported by IFPI: about $15 billion.
>
> 3a. World population in 1996 was about 5.8 billion. In 2014, it was 7.2
> billion (U.N. figures)
>
> 3b. 1996-2014, global gross domestic product from about 40 trillion US
> dollars to over 100 trillion US dollars (economywatch.com)
>
> 4. In 2015, for the first time, downloads and streaming sales total was
> higher than CDs and other physical media: $6.9b vs. $6.8b. (the remaining
> $1.3 billion in sales came from radio airplay and songs licensed for movies
> and video).
>
> 5. Net-net, phyiscal media is now about 45% of total music sales, and
> still losing ground. Streaming/subscription is the growth area. Downloads
> are also sliding. The world of artwork, physical product and ownership of
> one's purchased music is slipping away. Furthermore, recorded music appears
> to be of declining value to an increasing world population with increased
> spending power.
>
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