[d@DCC] Music in Canada Coalition gives some numbers

[John Lange]

Considering the plethora of entertainment options available these days,
the fact that music sales have stayed relatively stable is actually a
tremendous accomplishment.

In comparison, general TV viewing is down significantly and peak ratings
for popular shows is way down. For example, the final episode of Friends
got a 29.8 rating. The final episode of MASH was 60.2. No new shows (not
including the SuperBowl) have cracked the top 10 in more than a decade.

The sky is not falling on the music industry.

John

On Fri, 2005-01-07 at 11:37, Joe McGuire wrote:
> Ignore my last email. Forgot I had them bookmarked.
> 
> What they fail to mention is that Year To Date sales as of November
> 2004 compared to the same period in 2003, the number of albums sold is
> up 6%.
> 
> http://www.cria.ca/indstats.htm
> 
> On Fri, 7 Jan 2005 12:28:11 -0500, Joe McGuire <tinfoil at gmail.com> wrote:
> > I wouldn't mind seeing the year to year sales figures they are using.
> > Anyone have a quick link?
> > 
> > 
> > On Fri, 07 Jan 2005 10:06:07 -0600, John Lange <john.lange at open-it.ca> wrote:
> > > On Fri, 2005-01-07 at 00:17, Nicolas Marchildon wrote:
> > > > Mr. Grant Dexter, Member of Music in Canada Coalition said on November
> > > > 23: "we are an industry in crisis. Canada is the eighth-largest retail
> > > > market for music in the world; we used to be the third. Piracy has
> > > > ravaged our industry, and sales have plummeted by more than 30%,
> > > > dropping by more than $500 million since 1998. Sales of CDRs in Canada
> > > > outsell pre-recorded music, CDs, by three to one.
> > > >
> > > > Canada used to have 10% of sales in the U.S. market; we're now just over
> > > > 6%. The number of our Canadian artists who reached gold or platinum
> > > > status, with 50,000 or 100,000 units sold in the last five years, has
> > > > dropped by almost half, from 104 titles in 1999 to 62 in 2003."
> > >
> > > Assuming these numbers are true, the real reason for the drop in US
> > > sales is almost certainly because of the ClearChanel monopoly (Google
> > > for ClearChanel to find out more). The simple fact is, ClearChanel
> > > decides what artists are going to be hits and they are heavily biased
> > > towards US recording artists for which they also control concert
> > > facilities and do promotion for the bands tours.
> > >
> > > > http://www.parl.gc.ca/infocomdoc/38/1/FINA/Meetings/Evidence/FINAEV23-E.HTM#Int-1029376
> > > >
> > > > I wonder whether this 30% drop is real, and what the actual numbers are.
> > > > I've seen people arguing this drop does not match file swapping
> > > > popularity curve, but I think it's the first time I see such a big
> > > > percentage.
> > >
> > > I'm willing the bet the US album sales curve for Canadian artists
> > > directly matches the US airplay curve.
> > >
> > > The irony here is, the only way for Canadian artists to circumvent the
> > > ClearChannel monopoly is to find an alternative way to promote and
> > > distribute music.
> > >
> > > > Down the page referenced above, there's a bit more:
> > > >
> > > > http://www.parl.gc.ca/infocomdoc/38/1/FINA/Meetings/Evidence/FINAEV23-E.HTM#Int-1029429
> > > >
> > > > Nicolas
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > ______________________________________________________________________
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> > > --
> > > John Lange
> > >
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> > >
> > 
> > 
> > --
> > Joe McGuire aka Tinfoil
> > Tinfoil Music - Digital Media and Music News
> > http://music.tinfoil.net
> >