Good News: The Sky May Be Falling, But Not As Hard As You Think

On Tuesday, we posted an item on the bleak outlook for the music industry, as foreseen by the research company Enders Analysis; Forbes’ summary of Enders’ report said that the stormy forecast was the result of “the continuing effects of digital technology, which allows consumers to store large quantities of music on computers, and to cherry-pick tracks, rather than buying albums.” We got cranky about the “downloading is killing the industry” saw being trotted out again, but according to Listening Post, it turns out, the report actually blamed–at least in part–labels’ dragging their feet during the transition to digital distribution, and backing losing gambits like Pressplay, in addition to the digital-music world’s inadvertent revival of the singles market. So, Enders, we apologize (and we hope that this little mishap encourages you to put us on your press list for these sorts of reports, hint hint), and we thank you for actually noting that this whole predicament labels are in isn’t solely the fault of file-grubbing consumers.

In the report–which Listening Post got its hand on–Enders forecasted music sales over the next five years by using a pretty chart, which we’ve placed after the jump.

As far as making up for that dip, we–and others–are thinking licensing content to distributors may be the way to go (look for more semi-appropriate ad tie-tins coming to a TiVo near you!). Mostly, though, we’re surprised that the total forecasted dip isn’t as severe as we thought it might be.

Study Blames Sliding Music Sales on Music Industry, Not Fans [Listening Post] Earlier: Get Ready For Another Two Years Of Moaning About CD Sales (At Least)