1. THE SALES OF CD’S OVER THE LAST 5 YEARS
AND HOW ARTISTS MAKE MOST OF THEIR
MONEY
By Josh Lockey
2. 2008
This is the start of the digital downloading age. The iPod has now been around for 7 years and
has picked up strength and the newest iPod, the iPod Touch is out and is selling in the
millions. Forecasters are already seeing that CD sales are starting to slow down and more
and more people are now buying off websites like iTunes. Companies like HMV are still
running strong and making profits still. Sales drop in 2008, itunes growing and this is being
seen by many companies and they are changing to this demand.
Other companies are now starting to offer services such as Spotify which was created in 2008
also. They are offering free music to listen to via the internet and now people are getting much
faster internet thanks to fiber optic broadband so more people are listening this way.
Artists are still making the majority of money off CD’s still because a large amount of people
still do not own mp3’s and the smartphone has only just been created so people are still going
to shops such as HMV to buy music.
3. 2010
Things are certainly changing for the CD industry. iTunes has now exploded and millions of
people are buying off the app everyday and now the iPhone 3GS has been created, a phone
which some say changed the iPhone into one of the best selling phones made. This meant
more people were purchasing from them. Also, amazon have now created a mp3 store for 3
years and it is growing from strength to strength and more people are buying this way. Many
companies can now see that digital downloads are growing.
A large problem now though is the pirating websites are also growing and more people are
downloading illegally and the CD industry is getting hit heavily as well as the digital industry
and it Taking hundreds of millions from the industry.
Artists are now starting to gain large amounts of money from the digital industry but is not
making more than what CD’s make but is on the raise and more people have smartphones
than before.
4. 2012
This is a huge year for downloading and a major blow to CD sales.
Downloads overtake CD sales
In the first 3 months of the year CD sales are now being outsold by digital downloads which is
now putting companies like HMV into trouble as they did not move with the times in 2007
when digital sales were increasing. In late 2012 HMV finally went bankrupt and was sold off
with over £200million debt and analysis's thought it would not be brought but eventually in
early 2013 it was brought by a Canadian company. The company survived but lots hundreds
of its stores with it.
Artists are now seeing more money come from digital downloads than what they did 2 years
ago and CD sales are plummeting. The digital album is now the main way of selling it and
companies like Amazon MP3 are becoming even more popular because of products like the
amazon kindle tablet.
5. 2013
CD sales are still declining as of the digital age is moving on and people are now buying CD’s
for the ‘novelty’ and the feel of a CD as people buy them as they prefer this. ITunes also
allowed again for people to burn CD’s again to their iPod in early 2013, something they
stopped to combat pirating. Amazon also announced that if you brought a CD of their website
and had amazon MP3 you could have both copies as all the companies are trying to combat
pirating.
Artists are making more and more money from the internet and CD sales are still dropping
again but companies have now accepted this and new companies like Itunes are now
generating $12 billion a year and this is showing a clear jump to buying digitally.
