Mark Pack

The UK music industry’s revenues declined by less than 1% in the last year, a smaller drop than in previous years and a change that looks particular good given the economy overall was in sharp recession at the same time. These figures are likely to reinforce the views of critics of the Digital Economy Act who have attacked its approach to online piracy.

As The Register’s story says:

Reporting research that will further fuel the debate about the effect of copyright-infringing file sharing on the music industry, Ofcom said that a jump in single sales of 27 per cent and a rise in the consumption of digital media files, rather than discs, has slowed the decline in music retail earnings almost to a halt …

The report suggested that at other times the performance of the music retail market might have been even better.

“It is worth noting that this relative improvement in performance took place during a recession, when disposable incomes may well be squeezed.”