Demise of the music industry

This article by the guardian writes about the common perception that the sales of the music industry are falling due to illegal downloads, and that this is not actually the case and the music industry is a 'success story' of the recession.

It says: "Last year sales of singles soared to an all-time record of 152.7m units, an astonishing 33% rise in a year when the whole economy (GDP) contracted by 3.3%. If the music pundits seriously think that these are not being bought by kids, then it shows how out of touch they are with their customers. These same youngsters who were – and probably still are – massively downloading free music from the internet were prepared to pay up to £3 a pop for an insipid ringtone"

They use the bottled water industry as a comparison "the bottled water industry should have been their model. It got away with charging us lots of money for a product that was no better than free tapwater through clever marketing."

Music Industry Interview Script

How do you purchase music, if at all?

S: when I was younger I used to use all my itunes vouchers given to me as gifts to buy songs. Also I used to purchase albums from stores like HMV with my pocket money. However, back then I only listened to chart music which was very accessible.

K: i have bought music occasionally from places like HMV with gift vouchers i have been given and when i have wanted an album i would usually buy it off of itunes  .

Who's your favourite artist at the moment?

S: Joey badass is my favourite artist at the moment because he brings old school rap back to the modern era with his own twist to it. Him along with his movement called pro era make very chilled out music.

K: My favourite artist at the moment is Earl Sweatshirt. I like to listen to his music when i get bored and have nothing to do.

Do you listen to music for free, and how?

S: In these times I listen to all my music for free. I download all the albums I desire through sites such as utorrentz, audiomack and albumjams which have all the rap albums I look for and also keep up to date with the newest releases

K: At this time i listen to all my music i have for free because i download it from places like youtube and other music sites, this enables me to listen to lots of music without having to pay lots for the albums. I can now download the whole albums as well as single songs

How do you find out about new music?

K: I find out about new music from places like soundclound and spotify, as well as listening to the radio     occasionally and hearing songs that i like.

How has technology helped to share music?

K: I think that technology has help to share music as you can share music on youtube and soundcloud without having to pay anything.