There are several problems with this. To cite the author:
> “Recorded music revenue is down 64% since 1999.”
Is it any coincidence that this was exactly the same time that MTV stopped being “Music Television”, the greatest advertising medium for new music ever invented? N.B.: to a great extent because the recording labels demanded sky high royalties from them.
> “Per capita spending on music is 47% lower than it was in
> 1973!!”
1973 might have been the peak for vinyl record sales, but 1983 was much more important, the introduction of the Compact Disc, at five times or more than the price of a vinyl record. Higher prices = fewer sales, and much higher margins to the recording companies, but far beyond the economic reach of many people.
> “The number of professional musicians has fallen 25%
> since 2000.”
This is because the Baby Boom resulted in an abnormally high number of musicians, coupled with electronic music putting a lot of professional musicians out of work permanently.
> “Of the 75,000 albums released in 2010 only 2,000 sold
> more than 5,000 copies...”
Without the free advertising medium of MTV, only a tiny handful of new artists pushed by the recording companies get enough publicity to sell their work.
So because of the recording industry’s insane greed, in demanding all *possible* sources of revenue from “their” artists, even demanding hefty payments from those giving those artists “free” advertising, the recording industry has about destroyed itself.
Oh yes, and because it has gone to obnoxious lengths to prevent people from ever hearing new music by downloading it, they have cut off a huge revenue stream there as well.
Take this simple test (if you are over 40 years old) to determine how much the RIAA has hurt itself:
Think of artists and performers, and the music of the 1980s, and how many you can name off the top of your head. Now think of how many artists and performers and music you can name since 2000.
If you are over 40 you can probably name dozens of artists and lots and lots of songs from the 1980s just off the top of your head, and you will recognize hundreds as soon as they are mentioned.
After 2000, maybe half a dozen, if that many.
This is not a problem caused by illicit downloading of music.
The first album I bought was Abbey Road, back in 1969.
I wore it out on my cheapo turntable and bought another copy a few years later.
In the late '70s I bought it on cassette.
Then I bought it on CD back in the early 90's.
That CD is now safely stored in a binder, while when I want to hear the album, I play a 320kb MP3 rip, which is backed up on two separate HDDs.
I'll never have to buy another copy of that album again.
Much of the record industry "growth" of the 70's-90's was due to people buying the same music in succeeding formats. That's over now, over forever.
New music sucks.