“Global digital music sales grow as music industry develops new business models”

• Music companies embrace new revenue models, offering consumers more choice
• 95 per cent of music downloads are unauthorised, with no payment to artists and producers
• IFPI Digital Music Report calls for ISP cooperation to become a reality in 2009

The music industry has transformed its business models, offering consumers an increasing range of new services with leading technology partners. Yet generating value in an environment where 95 per cent of music downloads are illegal and unpaid for is still the biggest challenge for music companies and their commercial partners.

The digital music business internationally saw a sixth year of expansion in 2008, growing by an estimated 25 per cent to US$3.7 billion in trade value. Digital platforms now account for around 20 per cent of recorded music sales, up from 15 per cent in 2007. Recorded music is at the forefront of the online and mobile revolution, generating more revenue in percentage terms through digital platforms than the newspaper (4%), magazine (1%) and film industries (4%) combined.

At the same time, a new generation of music subscription services, social networking sites and new licensing channels is emerging. These were led in 2008 by services like Nokia Comes With Music, MySpace Music and a raft of partnerships with Internet Service Providers (ISPs), such as TDC in Denmark, Neuf Cegetel in France, TeliaSonera in Sweden and BSkyB in the UK.

Despite these developments, the music sector is still overshadowed by the huge amount of unlicensed music distributed online. Collating separate studies in 16 countries over a three-year period, IFPI estimates over 40 billion files were illegally file-shared in 2008, giving a piracy rate of around 95 per cent.

IFPI's Digital Music Report 2009, published today, gives a comprehensive overview of trends in the music business internationally. It shows an industry that has shifted its approach from one based only on unit sales of music to "monetising" access to music across a multitude of channels and platforms.

Single track downloads, up 24 per cent in 2008 to 1.4 billion units globally, continue to drive the online market, but digital albums are also growing healthily (up 36%). The top-selling digital single of 2008 was Lil Wayne's Lollipop with sales of 9.1 million units - 1.8 million more than the 2007 best selling digital single.

The Report also shows how the digital age is expanding the role of music companies in developing and marketing artists and it outlines the progress being made internationally in getting ISPs to cooperate to curb mass-scale copyright infringement on their networks.

John Kennedy, chairman and chief executive of IFPI, says: "The recorded music industry is reinventing itself and its business models. Music companies have changed their whole approach to doing business, reshaped their operations and responded to the dramatic transformation in the way music is distributed and consumed.

"There is a momentous debate going on about the environment on which our business, and all the people working in it, depends. Governments are beginning to accept that, in the debate over "free content" and engaging ISPs in protecting intellectual property rights, doing nothing is not an option if there is to be a future for commercial digital content."

Downhere wins 3rd Juno Award

Apr 3rd, 2009

For a twist on the press release about the 2009 Juno award, we are going to let Downhere’s bass player tell you the story from his own experience:

Wow!! We were pleasantly surprised and honoured to receive our 3rd ever Juno in Vancouver for our album “Ending Is Beginning”. Past albums, the self titled “Downhere” and “Wide-Eyed and Mystified” were the other two wins. The Contemporary Christian category has only been getting stronger every year. This year the other great Canadian artists we were with were Starfield, Article One, Newworldson and Life Support. So if you haven’t yet, check out their music!!

Winning a Juno in the Contemporary Christian category is an interesting thing. There were 32 awards given out tonight so we were just one in a long list and I’m sure we were one category that most people had no clue about. As we approached the stage to receive our award I heard one guy say to us as we passed, “Go Christians.” That ensured I had a smile on my face the rest of the way up to the stage if I didn’t already! This was the Juno Gala Dinner and Awards so people are generally eating or drinking while they hand out awards. If you are not well known (like us) it can be difficult to hold attention. So we gave our thank you’s, some people listened, heck Sarah McLachlan, BNL and Feist were in the room maybe listening and I find that to be pretty cool! (sidenote, I hung around like the fan that I am after the dinner in hopes I’d see Feist, but no luck!) Then after we finished our thank you’s they took us to a media area where there was one guy from a Christian radio station in Lethbridge Alberta who knew who we were and cared and about 30-40 other media folks who had no clue and didn’t care at all. Kind of funny when they are asking if there are any more questions and while no one responds I’m just waiting for someone to say, who are you guys anyway??

All that to say we had a great time tonight. It was laid back and fun. We got to hear some great music and were able to get a glimpse of all the great things happening in Canadian music right now. I’m proud to be a part of it.

Glenn

"Free" Thinker:

IODA's

Kevin Arnold