Traditional music industry shrinks again

Unsurprising news of the day: the global music industry has collapsed, and the RIAA's international arm, the IFPI is blaming lizards.

Alright, it's blaming piracy. Did you guess?

"The demand for new music seems as insatiable and diverse as ever, and record companies continue to meet it," said Frances Moore, chief executive of the IFPI. "But they are operating at only a fraction of their potential because of a difficult environment dominated by piracy."

There's not even a sniff that the music industry might have been hit by, you know, the global economy being rotten; there's not a hint that the record companies, far from meeting demand for new music, are falling back on gameshow winners and thinly-stretched catalogue; no apparent grasp that the rise of streaming means music consumption levels can rise while revenues will continue to fall.

Your business is rebalancing, Frances. Surely you must be used to that by now?

For the record:

Global recorded music revenues fell 8.4% last year, about $1.45bn, to $15.9bn according to the annual Recording Industry in Numbers report by international music industry body the IFPI.
[...]
Overall UK sales were $1.38bn, down some $170m or 11% year on year, thanks to a 19.2% fall in physical sales to $920m. Sales through digital channels boomed by 19.6% to $347m.

A sixteen billion dollar industry shouldn't be pleading poverty.