US music sales not quite so dead

Filed in archive Analysis , RIAA, IFPI on April 10, 2006

Chris Anderson of The Long Tail looks at US Music Sales as reported by RIAA. While the press and entertainment industry point to declining revenues, Chris's nifty chart shows that's not the case.

He points out that while CD sales have tanked, downloads have taken up most of the Slack. Add in other media like mobile, ringtones, and digital subscriptions, and total 2005 sales were about even, and likely more profitable with much lower hard good costs.