Report: Music sales to plummet by 2009

Music sales have been heading downward for years, but the forecast isn't about to get any brighter, according to a new report by research firm Enders Analysis. Global music sales will fall to $23 billion in 2009--16 percent below last year's sales and about half the 1997 peak of $45 billion, the report found. The monumental drop won't be aided by the continued surge of digital sales, the report stated, until around 2010, when saturation of MP3 players begin to counteract declining CD sales.

But at least one unnamed major label executive rejected the dark outlook, telling the Financial Times, "The death of the CD was predicted 10 years ago, but they are still being sold. Young people are still entering the music industry and are still joining the big record companies."

Apple Corps chief leaves

Neil Aspinall, the CEO of the Beatles' record company Apple Corps, has left the firm that has managed the Fab Four's music for nearly four decades. Aspinall had been affiliated with the Beatles for more than 40 years and was regarded as a close friend of the band. Apple Corps offered no reason for the departure other than a statement, "He has decided to move on." Aspinall will be replaced as the head of Apple Corps by Jeff Jones, who had been at SonyBMG since 1995. Aspinall had been at the forefront of the Beatles' trademark lawsuit with Apple and subsequent negotiations to finally bring the Beatles' catalog to digital download stores.

US takes Chinese piracy case to WTO

The US will file two complaints against China at the World Trade Organization (WTO) aimed at stopping what it said is piracy of copyright movies, music, software, and books. The music industry has long targeted piracy in China, including lawsuits against Baidu.com and Yahoo China. US Trade Representative Susan Schwab told Bloomberg News that cases were filed at the Geneva-based trade arbiter.

One case argues that China sets too high a value on pirated movie or music disks before prosecuting violators. The second objects to Chinese restrictions on the sale of foreign books and movies. "This is something our industry has been frustrated about for a very long time," Dan Glickman, president of the Motion Picture Association of America, told Bloomberg. The WTO complaints "are long overdue."

CD Baby artists take to MySpace

Much-acclaimed online CD retailer CD Baby has inked a deal with Snocap, the company behind the MyStores on MySpace and other sites, to allow the 130,000 artists in CD Baby's catalog to sell their music as MP3s through the social networking giant. The deal will allow CD Baby artists to open stores on their MySpace pages, as well as any Web site or blog that allows html embedding.

"Snocap has immediately become one of our most-requested digital partners," CD Baby founder Derek Sivers said in a statement. "Our clients are more excited about Snocap than they were about iTunes! We've got a great belief that they're about to become one of the fastest-rising sellers of music." CD Baby artists who participate will be added to Snocap's digital registry of over 3.3 million tracks. Snocap also has distribution agreements with imeem and Pump Audio.