Digipak Ancillary Task No. 6: Selling CD's?

For the sixth consecutive year in the UK, the sales of CD's and albums have been falling as seen from a study of the British Recorded Music Industry (BPI). But the question remains: How did the popular product first introduced in the 1980's enter it's stage of decline?

As in the age of convergence that we are in at the moment, the internet and comfortableness have been brought together. Online Data bases such as iTunes and various P2P servers now make it possible for the consumer to download the wished song or album with one small click. No more running into music shops, one might exaggerate the situation, but indeed, CD sales are still very high. Artists are still trying to earn their money through sales, but now they can sell their products to a much larger market virtually. The problem of piracy does still remain, but nowadays it is far easier to make a larger profit as so many people own a personal computer or laptop with an internet connection. Furthermore the artists create revenue through diversifying and taking on different jobs in the media, such as acting, etc.

Moreover sales of physical singles also have fallen from 2.5 million to 1.9 million in 2010.

Further interesting websites:

Sales of Albums in the UK: 

http://www.nme.com/news/various-artists/54449

A historical slideshow of musical sales in America (Recommended - Don't miss this!):

http://www.digitalmusicnews.com/stories/081611thirty