Has The Record Industry Bottomed Out?
“Maybe, just maybe, we’ve bottomed out.” That optimistic record industry assessment was uttered by music retailer Mike Negra at today’s RIAA press conference. The thinking in some quarters is that after a multi-year decline that has erased thousands of music industry jobs and millions of dollars in revenue, the industry may have finally hit rock bottom.
Setting the stage for today’s announcement of 532 new lawsuits against copyright infringers (see separate story), new RIAA Chairman/CEO Mitch Bainwol reflected on how much has changed over the past year. One year ago, young consumers and their parents were unsure about the legality and consequences of illegal file sharing. P2P file sharing services were growing. And there was little understanding of the online piracy issue in Congress or among the public.
“[Now], virtually every week, we see evidence that the music community