EMarketer always comes up with some interesting stuff.
eMarketer.com - The Music Industry Enters Uncharted Territory.
Sales of CDs, which currently account for 55% of the industry's total revenues, will continue to decline sharply, falling to 29% of the overall business by 2011.
My comment: it'll be a lot more than that. I think CDs will be less than 20% of the overall revenues in 2011. But here is the big news: there will be a new, physical format that will arise on the back of a completely satisfying digital-only music experience, and that will be high-definition multimedia. A fully converged music + film / video +games product.
"That growth will come predominantly from online and mobile music, the live concert industry and the licensing of music for public performances, commercials, TV shows, films and video games. From a marketing perspective, these growth areas happen to lend themselves to creative brand exploitation. "In fact, the climate for marrying brands to musical artists has never been more favorable," says Mr. Verna. "Whereas in the past, rock musicians tended to view commercial associations as 'sellouts,' today the media landscape is rife with name artists who have attached themselves to top brands: U2 and the Apple iPod, Bob Dylan and Victoria's Secret, Robbie Williams and T-Mobile — and the list goes on."
My comment: indeed. Music as brand, and music companies as brand managers!