Sales of Christian and gospel music dropped 10 percent in the first half of 2003, with industry leaders blaming music piracy and the economy for the drop.
At the end of the first six months of 2003, Nielsen SoundScan sales of Christian and gospel music stood at 21,046,000 units. That’s a 10.23 percent decline from the same period in 2002, when 23,445,000 units were sold.
Despite the sales decrease, the genre of music maintained its market share in the overall music industry.
The sales of these recordings represented 7.14 percent of all music sales, ahead of sales for Latin, classical, jazz and soundtracks, the Gospel Music Association said. “We are not surprised at the slowdown because gospel music sales are being affected by the same issues as the rest of the music industry – an uncertain economy and piracy,” said John W. Styll, president of the Nashville-based association, in a statement.
Styll said a task force of the industry’s leading distribution companies was recently developed to address digital distribution issues, including illegal downloading.
He said, “We do, however, face a unique paradox. On the one hand, we have the moral argument that stealing music is wrong. On the other, some naively have argued that downloading and sharing gospel music is a type of ministry, perhaps unaware that it is copyright infringement.”
(RNS)
Share with others: