End is near for the CD single

CALL Philip Nitschke. It may be time to put the CD single out of its misery as it enters the final stages of a long but inexorable death.

Four years ago in Australia the relatively cheap, two- or three-song package - the modern version of the seven-inch vinyl record - sold more than 5 million copies in the first half of the year. This year that figure has dropped to a little more than 1 million.

Although sales dropped by 25 per cent each year between 2004 and last year, this year's CD singles are down almost 50 per cent on last year. In dollar terms the Australian CD single market has gone from $13,305,607 in 2004 to $3,643,249.

It can't be long before the CD single goes the way of the vinyl single. So few vinyl singles are sold now that the the Australian Recording Industry Association doesn't even count them.

As with its vinyl predecessor, the CD single sells mainly to teenagers and young music consumers.That internet-savvy market has turned its attention to digital downloads.

In 2004 and 2005, as the record industry was still claiming then-illegal downloads were "killing music", or at least their profits, the industry's association kept no download figures. Now, however, with two years' figures available from legal downloads, it's possible to chart a massive 64 per cent growth in downloaded tracks (that could be singles or album tracks).

In the first half of last year Australians downloaded 4,924,831 tracks, at a cost of $5,118,151. This year that has increased to 7,958,855, earning the record companies $8,380,163.

While growth continues in the downloads of singles and albums - album downloads rose 66 per cent in the first half of this year, albeit from a very modest base - the news on physical sales - music you can hold in your hands - is poor.

Putting a gloss on the figures, the industry association highlighted the increased presence of Australian acts in the sales charts. Australian-produced music made up 35 per cent of first-half sales compared with 32 per cent in the same period last year. Yet the most telling figure for any record company executive is that total sales this year so far, at some $186 million, are down 14 per cent. Not terminal, but far from healthy.