http://bigpicture.typepad.com/comments/2004/12/
Nielsen SoundScan reported that, as of last Sunday, unit sales reached 665.5 million for 2004. That represents a modest 1.4% increase over the same period 2003. The industry has one more week of sales left before getting a final tally for the year, the WSJ reported.
This increase reflects, more than anything the industry has done, a generally improving economy, along with a few breakout CDs. Much of the industry, however, remains mird in a creative drought of sorts.
Further, the music industry is not competing well with other digital entertainment media. A survey by the Stanford Institute for the Quantitative Study of Society (reported yesterday in the NYT) noted how the internet was cutting Into TV viewing.
