Digital Music Sales On Track To Rise 7% In 2011

Digital music revenues are on track to rise about 7% globally to $6.3 billion according to a new study be respected research firm Gartner. But revenues from declining CD sales are not expected to make up for the rise in digital revenue led by iTunes and the growing momentum of digital streaming services like Spotify and Pandora.

By 2015, Gartner forecasts digital music sales to hit $7.7 billion from $5.9 billion in 2010. In the same period, consumer spending on CDs and other physical music is predicted to drop to $10 billion from $15 billion.

"The music industry was the first media sector to feel the full impact of two major forces — the Internet and technology-empowered consumers" Gartner analyst Mark McGuire said in the report. "It has staggered through the first decade of the 21st century and entered the second bedraggled financially and facing a powerful set of intermediaries, which are creating borderless global ecosystems that defy the industry's previous notions of control and monetisation."