Cd Sales Regain Their Rhythm After Pirates And Gst Cause Early Slump
Sydney Morning Herald
Tuesday February 13, 2001
Sales of recorded music rose 2 per cent in Australia last year, despite the GST and the spread of music piracy inspired by Internet swap sites such as Napster and cheaper CD burners.
Australian Record Industry Association figures show that unit sales slumped almost4 per cent during the first half of the year, before bouncing back with a 4.5 per cent increase from July to Decem-ber, including a spike in September.
The top-selling album of the year was 1 by the Beatles (420,000 copies), followed by Powerfinger's Odyssey Number 5 (350,000). Dance music, comprising 5 per cent of sales, enjoyed steady growth, but sales of singles were static even though prices fell.
The executive director of the Australian Record Industry Association, Mr Emmanuel Candi, said the GST was to blame for the early decline.
After July 1, the price of an average new-release CD fell by about $1 when the GST replaced the 22 per cent wholesale sales tax.
``It wasn't until September that there was a big retail return to ordering wholesale," Mr Candi said.
Cheaper CD burners and blank CDs, and free Internet music swapping sites affected sales, he said.
A United States Court of Appeals decision on the fate of the online service Napster was expected to be handed down last night. Unless the three-judge panel overturns the ruling of a lower court, Napster could be forced to block users trading copyright-protected tunes.
On Saturday, nearly 10,000 people reportedly rushed to beat the ban by logging on to one of Napster's computer servers to share almost 2 million free songs.
That compares with last July when 7,300 users shared 800,000 files.
Top 10 albums for 2000
1. 1 The Beatles
2. Odyssey Number Five Powderfinger
3. Affirmation Savage Garden
4. The Power Vanessa Amorosi
5. Reflector Killing Heidi
6. Californication Red Hot Chili Peppers
7. Macy Gray on How Life Is Macy Gray
8. All That You Can't Leave Behind U2
9. Not That Kind Anastacia
10. Play Moby Source: www.aria.com.au
© 2001 Sydney Morning Herald