The Real Death of the Music Industry

Michael DeGusta has posted a chart of music industry revenue in America illustrating how revenue really has been shrinking significantly over the past 10 years. His analysis indicates that the industry is down 64% since it's peak in 1999. While I have little sympathy for an industry that has been extremely slow to react to the market, I do find it alarming that fewer people are buying music today than they have in the past. Perhaps the rising significance of the single will encourage songwriters to create more great songs, but I hope it doesn't prevent artists from focusing on albums in the future. I still prefer to purchase and listen to albums; I feel like an album gives you a better chance of hearing a more fully realized piece of artwork from an artist. I don't know what the future holds, but it's an interesting time to be a musician and a music fan.