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Record Companies Count On Elvis

October 11, 2002 | Music
More music fans are shunning record stores as new figures show that the global slump in music sales has deepened.
The value of music sold dropped by 9.2% in the first half of 2002, the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) has said. The continued popularity of free "song-swapping" sites and CD-copying has been blamed.

Some figures: US - down 6.8%, Japan - down 14.2%, UK - down 6.2%, France - up 5.2%, Western Europe total - down 7.5% and Asia total - down 15.6%. The slump follows a 5% drop in 2001.

Record companies are now hoping that new releases from big names like Elvis Presley (ELV1S 30 #1 Hits sold more than 837,000 copies thus far), the Rolling Stones and Shaggy will tempt fans back into record shops in the second half of the year.

Source:Reuters