In the United States, CD sales have decreased by 4.2% in the first half of this year; however, profits from online music have surged by 77%. The growth of online music business is causing record companies to feel both happy and worried.
The total revenue from music albums, including CD, cassette, and other formats, in the first six months in the U.S. reached only $270.6 million, compared to $282.6 million during the same period last year. The best-selling album so far is the soundtrack of Disney Channel’s *High School Musical* (2.6 million copies). Albums by Rascal Flatts, James Blunt, Mary J. Blige, and Carrie Underwood rank fifth. This decline has also affected the sales of discs by Mariah Carey and 50 Cent, two artists who achieved platinum status last year.
In terms of music genres, R&B remains dominant with 53,806 copies sold, although this represents a 22.4% decrease compared to the same period last year. In contrast, country music has seen a 17.7% increase.
While CDs have been the preferred format for artists releasing albums over the past five years, fans are gradually shifting towards downloading single songs or entire albums from online service platforms. From January 2 to July 2, nearly 281 million digital tracks were downloaded, compared to 158.8 million last year, indicating that this market is indeed very promising. In the first half of the year, 14 million albums were sold in this manner, doubling the figure from 2005.
The rise of online music services is making record companies feel both excited and anxious. They are pleased to have a new business channel but worried that this will significantly reduce CD revenues.
Among the four major record companies, Universal Music Group holds the largest market share (31.66%), followed by Sony BMG Music Entertainment (26.25%), Warner Music Group (19.30%), and EMI Music of the UK (10%).
Duc Thanh
