Recording Industry Sales take Big Hit

The music industry looked to be fine and still booming after the Grammy Awards on Sunday night. At the end of last year, the music industry was worth half of what it used to be over the past 10 years. Total revenue from U.S. music sales and licensing plunged to $6.3 billion in 2009, according to Forrester Research. In 1999, revenue for the recording industry was $14.6 billion. The two recessions during the past decade really did not help music sales. It's also unfair to compare the 2000s with the 1990s, because the 1990s enjoyed an unnatural sales boost when consumers replaced their cassette tapes and vinyl records with CDs. The future still remains for CDs as digital music has taken the mainstage. Every device now contains some sort of way to listen to your music. Moving away from the CD and into the digital world will be the next major push for the recording industry. How recording artists take advantage of digital sales is still unknown as iTunes and other various digital goods stores do not provide the profit once seen throughout major retail stores.