The Explosive Generation

(from today’s Financial Times)

Music industry claims 95% of downloads illegal

[by Salamander Davoudi in London]

A quarter of all recorded music industry revenues come from digital channels but online file-sharing continues to undermine the global music industry, with sales of physical and digital music falling last year.

The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, a trade body, estimates that 95 per cent of music downloads worldwide are illegal. The IFPI said physical music sales, such as CDs, fell 16 per cent to $11.6bn. Digital sales growth slowed to 12 per cent, reaching $4.2bn.

Music companies have struggled to offset the sharp decline in CD sales over the past 10 years. Digital growth is slowing in spite of new legal online music services such as Spotify and an increasing number of countries moving towards legislation to protect copyright.

The rate of digital growth fell from 25 per cent in 2008 to 12 per cent last year, leaving overall music sales down for a 10th successive year.

John Kennedy, executive chairman of the IFPI, said: “It would be great to report these innovations have been rewarded by market growth, more investment in artists, more jobs. Sadly, that is not the case. Digital piracy remains a huge barrier to market growth.”

Global sales in the music industry – both physical and digital – have fallen 30 per cent over the past five years in spite of a 940 per cent growth in digital, according to the IFPI.

The IFPI said countries such as Sweden, Taiwan and South Korea had achieved some success after introducing copyright legislation and that physical sales of CDs had increased.

Spain was singled out and described as running the risk of “turning into a cultural desert” owing to “state-tolerated apathy” towards illegal filesharing.

“Spain has the worst piracy problem of any major market in Europe. In 2009 no new Spanish artists featured in the top 50 album charts, compared to 10 in 2003,” Mr Kennedy said.

“It’s getting to the stage where it is nearly irreversible.”

As sad as the Haitian earthquake is and as much as we donated money towards relief agencies, I can’t help but become furious at US policies towards Haiti over the years.

Obama can pontificate about his empathy but won’t give suffering Haitians “temporary protected status”, Hillary Clinton can shed her crocodile tears over how horrible it all is yet as Secretary of State she won’t dare mention that we facilitated a bunch of gangsters by kidnapping their democratically elected president and dumping him (ultimately in South Africa) thus legitimizing a coup d’etat which left the country not only helpless but without a “moral” leader to rally around. No one to give the poor hope. Many social infrastructure projects that might have actually really benefited Haitians (like say water treatment) during this crisis are practically non-existent. If Aristide is too divisive to bring back, then Rene Preval better step up to the plate (unless he wants another Papa Doc to arise).

Between the French and the Americans Haiti has been exploited over the years.  And when you see the reports that I have online from foreign news agencies, thousands of bodies rotting in 80 degree heat,  reporters at the scene just overwhelmed with emotion, it’s just amazing that there isn’t real violence taking place. 

First the colonial powers exploit all your resources (remember that Columbus first landed at Hispanola in 1492 and turned it’s residents into slaves to look for the non-existent gold, and it was all downhill for the Haitians from there), from US embargoes and the stripping of their natural resources all the way to the meddling of the Clinton/Bush administrations it goes on.

The history is ugly and you can read about some if  here in a book review in the London Review Of Books.