More optimism for you now, and the boss of Universal Music parent company Vivendi says he reckons his group's recordings division will start to impress investors in the near future as major digital deals start to bring in serious new revenue streams to compensate for the well known decline in CD sales.
Talking to the Finanical Times, and citing deals with Nokia, Apple and MySpace, Jean Bernard Levy said: "The next surprise for our investors is, I think, [in] the music business, [where] there is a strong likelihood that we are getting close to the lowest part of the cycle and we are extremely active in developing new business models, new sources of revenues. We are working with all the big names in the field of internet, in the field of telecom equipment companies, big media companies and this is a big opportunity".
Levy said that Universal Music had retained its market leader position during the downturn in the record industry's fortunes, and would now lead the sector into a new period of growth. He concluded: "I really believe we are at the turning point for the music industry and I didn't say that two years ago".