For the last three years, the RIAA has been clamoring that file-sharing has been the grand reason for slumping CD sales. During Napster's reign, this argument compelled judge Madelyn Patel to pull the plug on this once powerful P2P network.

In addition, the argument has proven so persuasive that members of Congress have concurred with the RIAA's "sue 'em all" campaign, entitling the music industry to protect their copyrights at the expense of the American people's rights.

While the RIAA was quick to single out file-sharing as the primary reason for slumping CD sales, other possibilities such as a decline in the world economy and the absence of talented artists were never explored.

Now, as the American and world economy surges forward, the latest news from Nielsen SoundScan should be music to the RIAA's ears.

"Sales of compact discs, which make up 96 percent of all sales, fell 2.1 percent to 635.8 million units. But the decline in 2002 was a much steeper 8.7 percent.

For the last three months of the year, when many labels roll out their biggest releases, CD sales rose 5.6 percent from the year-ago period.

Overall music sales -- including singles and increasingly popular online downloads -- were up 10.5 percent for that period, Nielsen SoundScan said."

Although music sales seem to be increasing, this situation may present a double edged sword to the RIAA. For the last three years the music industry has been waging a war against file-sharing and the American people. They have testified to Congress that the P2P community is the primary reason for their faltering business. Considering present news dictates that CD sales are on the rise, what argument will they have against file-sharing now?

This story is filed in these Slyck News categories
Entertainment Industry :: RIAA
File-Sharing/P2P Related :: Statistics/Analysis

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