EMI’s Sees Dissapointing CD Sales / Blamed On Piracy
08.06.07 - 04:59pm
The question of whether no DRM is working seems to be being answered and not favorably for the American music consumer.
EMI who was the first to go DRM free has just posted a massive drop in CD sales losing 19.8 percent in the last three months. The loss is being blamed on illegal downloads.
Total revenue for EMI has declined by 5.1 percent, even with a 26 percent increase in digital sales.
The drop reflects “the tough market conditions experienced in the recorded music market,” EMI said in a statement.
EMI was the first major music label to sign a contract with iTunes offering all their music DRM free on the site.
They have since been struggling more than the rest of the music labels. Most noticeably have been their extremely low CD sales in America.
EMI was taken over last week by a private equity firm Terra Firma Capital Partners for 2.4 billion.
Whether or not the takeover will mean a change in the DRM free music has not been noted yet, but the loss of profits will probably be enough to keep other record labels from joining in the foray.
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