Study: Music downloads to surpass CD sales by 2012

The Business Review (Albany):

Half of all music sold in the U.S. will be digital in 2011 and sales of digitally downloaded music will surpass physical compact disc sales in 2012, according to a new report by Forrester Research Inc.

Forrester Research, based in Cambridge, Mass., said that digital music sales will grow at a compound annual growth rate of 23 percent over the next five years, reaching $4.8 billion in revenue by 2012. In contrast, by 2012, CD sales will be reduced to $3.8 billion.

"This is the end of the music industry as we know it," said James McQuivey, vice president and principal analyst at Forrester Research, in a statement. "Media executives eager to stay afloat in this receding tide must clear the path of discovery and purchase, but only hardware and software providers can ultimately make listening to music as easy as turning on the radio."

Powered by ScribeFire.