Although overall profits were down for the six months leading up to Sep this year, the share price of London based major label EMI rose on Friday when new financial figures indicated the UK music industry was starting to reap rewards from the digital music sector.
EMI's half year profits were down from £39.8 million to £36.9 million. However the new financials showed that revenues from downloaded music had risen 600% in the same period showing that, while illegal online music distribution is still a problem for the music business, the growth of legitimate download platforms like iTunes and Napster is now providing a new revenue stream for record labels.
Although online sales only represent 2% of EMI's current turnover, and while CD sales are still expected to form the majority of EMI's income for the foreseeable future, the fact that digital music is starting to create revenues for EMI has restored a little confidence among investors in the UK music market.
EMI chairman Eric Nicoli told investors: "The legitimate digital music market continues to expand rapidly and we remain confident that digital represents a key driver for future industry growth".
In the short term Nicoli also expects to reach his company's profit targets by the end of the financial year thanks to major releases from The Rolling Stones, Robbie Williams and Blue, all of which have come in the second half of the year. He continued: "Turnover for October and November to date is well ahead of last year, significantly reducing the first-half decline".