Digital Up, CD’s Down! Now tell us something we dont know already!

The IFPI released its annual report on digital music, and it’s just the same old (played out) song with some new numbers:

Global Revenue from digital music sales rose 40 percent to $2.9 billion over the past year, but that was more than offset by the drop in CD sales.

*30 per cent of all recorded music is sold digitally online or mobile * The biggest threat to the music industry continues to be piracy, with illegal downloads outstripping legal ones by 20-1. * Digital now represents 15 percent of the global music market — up from just two percent in 2004. In the U.S., its 30 percent; in South Korea, 60 percent

* Avril Lavigne’s “Girlfriend” was the top-selling digital track, with 7.3 million downloads.

* Legal download outlets like iTunes and Zune offer a better selection than P2P services like Limewire

The last year has finally seen the wind of change blowing through old assumptions about the role internet service providers (ISPs) should play in protecting copyrighted content. ISP responsibility is becoming an accepted idea.

This is a critical development, because until now ISPs have played no such role. Copyright theft has been allowed to run rampant on their networks under the guise of technological advancement. Some estimates say no less than 80 per cent of all internet traffic comprises copyright-infringing files on Illegal peer-to-peer (P2P) networks. ISPs have largely stood by, allowing a massive devaluation of copyrighted music. This in turn – and despite all the positives about our digital growth – has prompted a crisis in recorded music that has wide implications for the whole digital market place and all those businesses to which music is an important ingredient.

According to the report, similar movements have happened in different parts of the world: new legislation engaging ISPs in Taiwan and Korea; a hard-hitting message from the Swedish government’s Renfors Report; and intensifying intra-industry discussions in other countries. In the UK, with talks proceeding against the ticking clock of the government commissioned Gower’s Review, ISPs need to prove that they can deliver action that will have a real impact on piracy. In the US, AT&T has shown cautious leadership, acknowledging ISPs’ responsibility to protect content and working on filtering technologies with the music and film industries.

Revolution and innovation, however, are not going to be enough to secure a healthy future for the music industry. The third corner of the triangle is responsibility. 2007 was the year ISP responsibility started to become an accepted principle. 2008 must be the year it becomes a reality.