Product Description
The music industry in the UK is traditionally one of the most successful home markets. Within the UK sales of CDs, which have replaced cassettes and records as the dominant format, have remained buoyant. The numerous radio stations and TV channels catering for the consumer reflect the popularity of music, both new and old, from all manner of genres. However, despite the consumer's enthusiasm for this entertainment media, the home music industry is undergoing its own recession. There are a number of reasons why this is the case, and why it may well persist for some time yet. The music industry is changing exponentially in response to technological developments in the IT sector. The emergence of Internet-based shopping and searching has opened the doorway for consumers to obtain pre-recorded music in other ways - and much less expensively - than purchasing CDs, cassettes, minidiscs or records from traditional outlets. Meanwhile, the lower cost of downloading music from the Internet has had an adverse effect on the sale of both singles and albums. Consequently, in this report, Mintel proposes to examine the hypothesis that: "The music industry has entered a period of significant change. It is moving beyond the traditional territory of pre-recorded music as a physical unit, which can be purchased in shops. The impact of the Internet and the mass appeal of downloading music from websites is the catalyst here, and unless the industry can adapt, to offer consumers benefits that they cannot obtain elsewhere, it will suffer."
