Music stores face ‘uncertainty’
By Darren Waters |
UK record shops face an “insecure future” due of downloading and CD sales in supermarkets, a report has said.
The pressure of new players competing for the record buyer’s pound could make music stores “irrelevant”, it stated.
The report was produced by the Music Tank network and published in trade magazine CMU Weekly.
Online store Napster also announced it has increased the size of its music library in the UK by 40% to 700,000 songs at a cost of £1.09 per track.
Napster said the library is now the world’s largest online music catalogue.
Leanne Sharman, Napster vice-president and UK general manager, said: “Napster gives users their own virtual music superstore where there is something for everyone.
“We’re very grateful to the labels, artists, managers, publishers and other rights holders who have been so quick to add their repertoire to the catalogue.”
The music report’s author Jennifer O’Kane said competition from online stories was just one factor being faced by record shops.
