Exhibit 3.7 The Music Industry Sings The Blues
For seven years running, sales of compact discs have fallen due to the seismic shift in the way consumers obtain their music. Though CDs still account for most of all music sold, the sharp decline in their sales as a consequence of digital downloads has dramatically outweighed increases in CD revenues. Even the hits aren’t what they used to be. Norah Jones’s “Not Too Late” sold 1.1 million copies in its first six weeks in early 2007, compared to twice that figure for her “Feels Like Home” CD over its same postrelease period in 2004.
Music retailers are also feeling the pain, with more than 200 music stores closing in the United States in 2006 alone. Tower Records closed its 89 stores following a bankruptcy filing, and Musicland Holding Corp., owner of the Sam Goody chain, has shuttered more than half of its 900 locations in recent years.
Pali Research analyst Richard Greenfield is not optimistic that industry conditions will get better. “Even when you have a good release like Norah Jones,” he says, “maybe the environment is so bad you can’t turn it around.”