Compact Disc Sales In a Tailspin

Reported on Paul Kedrosky's blog is a piece on how CD sales, year over year, are down 20%. I especially likes how he ties the decline of the CD to the demise of CRT-televisions: both are outmoded technologies, there are better alternatives, and consumers are tired of them.

As you might recall, I was ranting just the other day about how hardcopy content is on the wane in the face of downloading on demand. Apparently the only people who still have their head in the sand on this issue is the management at the record companies and movie studios. I was especially pleased with the pragmatic, reality-based attitude of the talent manager quoted in the WSJ article Mr. Kedrosky links to:

Jeff Rabhan, who manages artists and music producers including Jermaine Dupri, Kelis and Elliott Yamin, says CDs have become little more than advertisements for more-lucrative goods like concert tickets and T-shirts. "Sales are so down and so off that, as a manager, I look at a CD as part of the marketing of an artist, more than as an income stream," says Mr. Rabhan. "It's the vehicle that drives the tour, the merchandise, building the brand, and that's it. There's no money."

He gets it. Why is it so hard for the studios to accept that this is how they are going to make their money, both now in the future?

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