Download growth concerns music industry

[Jared Moya]

Apple uses it to sell iPods. Vodafone uses it to sell broadband airtime. Starbucks uses it to encourage customers to linger longer, and consider a second Frappuccino.

 

Digital music finally took off in 2005, according to data published ahead of this week's Midem music trade show in Cannes, while lawsuits kept illegal file-sharing in check.

 

But for record companies, the growth of legitimate downloads and the partial victory against piracy have come at a price. Many in the industry are concerned that the scramble for digital sales has done lasting damage to profitability.

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[mountain_rage]

The real issue is their ability to have a stronghold on the market. Now that they are beeing kicked out and artist are selling their own tracks their existance is no longer needed. If they cant stomp out this problem alot of suits and ties might actually have to work for a living.

[ducttapeBigSexy]

I think what the labels should do is sue manfacturers of CD players, tape players, and mp3 players. This way, the only thing left would be record players, and the labels can go back to the good ol' days of charging far more money for a single then they are now!

Or, they could just come to terms with reality.