The record industry just keeps sinking. The latest figures, published on 5 May by the Syndicat national de l'édition phonographique (the SNEP, which groups the main French producers), are no better than the previous ones: sales fell by 16% in the first quarter of 2009. What is new is that the fall in physical sales is accompanied by a fall in digital sales (-1%), which had been growing until now. "A quarter today equals a month in 2002", laments Hervé Rony, the president of the SNEP.
Except that the situation is not as bleak as we are being led to believe. If music sells less in the shops, it has never been listened to so much. One piece of information went more unnoticed: the Sacem, which collects royalties and redistributes them to artists, has never had so much money, reveals UFC Que Choisir. In 2008 it should total 756 million euros, almost the record amount of 2007 (759 million). Since 2000 this figure has continued to rise, except in 2006, when it fell by 0.4%. Record sales account for only 16.5% of the jackpot, against 33.9% for radio and television broadcasts.