Forget the spin, taping is not killing music

Found on Sydney Morning Herald on Saturday, 03 January 2004
Browse Filesharing

Despite its usual song and dance over CD burning, the record industry is in rude health, says Peter Martin.

The recording industry survey was carried out by Quantum Market Research using a sample of about 1000 people. It suggests that 31 million homemade CDs are given away as gifts each year (about four for each of the eight million Australians it says receive them). If, as seems reasonable, 31 million homemade CDs are kept rather than given away, the total number created each year would top 62 million.

A dent of 62 million in CD sales in stores each year should be easy to spot. Except for this problem. CD sales in Australian stores have hardly ever been that high.

At various times we have been told that the pianola was going to kill sales of sheet music, that radio was going to kill sales of records, that photocopying would kill sales of books, that the VCR would stop people going to movies, and that cheaper imported records would stop people buying Australian music.

Oh wonder! How can music piracy affect the US, but not Australia? Might it be that, despite all statements of the US industry, the true reasons are the high prices and the bad albums?