CD sales drowned by downloads

Although it was to be expected, it seems CDs are now officially being taken over on the popular music front by legal downloads in a big way.

While many have thought downloads to be taking over from CDs for a while, it seems that only now are retailers starting to take the hint.

Walter Lehne, who owns the Dirt Cheap CDs chain, says the industry is taking a massive shift. “It’s no secret that a huge amount of music is now legally downloaded,” he told The Age.

“Record companies now do deals with big major stores, like the JB Hi-Fis and Big Ws, Kmarts, Harvey Norman; so they go out at prices sometimes below what they sell to other people,” Lehne says.

Michael McRae, an employee at Red Eye Records second-hand shop, agrees. “Where we are in Pitt Street, there used to be numerous stores up and down; now there’s basically nothing. It’s all pretty much gone.

According to Australian Recording Iindustry Association’s half year sales for 2008, ending in June, sales of CDs and other physical formats are down 4%, while digital sales have increased 50% from last year.