While the music industry in the UK and US seems to have been enjoying commercial growth in the last year with both the numbers of units sold and overall profit up, less good news from the French music industry this week. The Syndicat National de l'Edition Phonographique has revealed music sales in France are down for the first half of 2004.
Music sales amounted to Euro 652m in the first half of the year, which is down 13.8% on last year, while in terms of volume 48.7 million units were sold, which is down from 55 million last year.
However, more in line with other music markets, the biggest drop in sales was in the singles market. The number of singles sold fell a massive 25.6%, while the decline in the number of albums shifted was closer to 6%.