Music business hurt by piracy and crisis
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by Ceyhun Kuburlu
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Haziran 29, 2009 00:00
ISTANBUL - The country's music industry, which used to purchase 44 million tax stamps only five years ago, has been hit hard by global crisis and increased piracy.
The industry purchased only 14 million tax stamps last year. That figure continues to decline as only 5 million tax stamps have been acquired by the industry during the first five months of this year. The industry released more than 1,600 new albums and obtained a turnover of about $91 million in 2008. On the other hand, the number of albums expected to be released is only 900 this year, which would drag the turnover figure down to $68 million.
Besides piracy issues, the tightening of municipality budgets and the decline of concert ticket sales have been among other reasons for the music industry’s contracting figures, according to the interpretations of some industry players.
Sales of the industry have declined 31 percent in the United States, which has always been the biggest music market in the world. And that has been accepted as an indication to the fact that the market contraction has been caused by the global turmoil.
This has been the worse collapse the industry has experienced in years, said Bülent Forta, president of Turkish Phonographic Industry Society, or MÜ-YAP. "Musicians have given up on trying to make money through albums. They seek other channels," he said.
"The total music industry is assumed to value at $1 billion, including instruments, clubs and concerts. But, with the impact of the global economic crisis the industry has been experiencing a big value decline. Many concerts have been called off and there has been a serious decline in instrument sales," said Forta.
The decline in the music industry figures are related to the crisis this year, he said. "However, the drop in tax stamp figures existed way before the crisis. And that decline is caused by piracy and increasing Internet usage," Forta said. "Turkey has not been able adopt effective measures when it comes to these issues. Developed countries such as France, the United Kingdom and the United States have taken effective measures. Turkey lags behind on that issue."
"Internet is one of the biggest problems the music industry has to face. However, I am not opposed to downloading music from the Internet," said Nil Karaibrahimgil, a young musician who launched her fourth album "Nil Kıyısında" (Inshore the Nile) earlier this year. "I have benefited much from the Internet as an artist. I was introduced to various types of music by downloading them through the Internet. The real problem can be solved by making sharing a profitable act."
"Piracy and the Internet have been hurting the industry badly enough. Now the crisis added salt and pepper on top of the problem," said Ferhat Göçer, another Turkish musician. "The average cost of producing an album varies between $100,000 and $350,000. I hope this industry will manage to pullout of the crisis without being damaged much."
Besides piracy issues, the tightening of municipality budgets and the decline of concert ticket sales have been among other reasons for the music industry’s contracting figures, according to the interpretations of some industry players.
Sales of the industry have declined 31 percent in the United States, which has always been the biggest music market in the world. And that has been accepted as an indication to the fact that the market contraction has been caused by the global turmoil.
This has been the worse collapse the industry has experienced in years, said Bülent Forta, president of Turkish Phonographic Industry Society, or MÜ-YAP. "Musicians have given up on trying to make money through albums. They seek other channels," he said.
"The total music industry is assumed to value at $1 billion, including instruments, clubs and concerts. But, with the impact of the global economic crisis the industry has been experiencing a big value decline. Many concerts have been called off and there has been a serious decline in instrument sales," said Forta.
The decline in the music industry figures are related to the crisis this year, he said. "However, the drop in tax stamp figures existed way before the crisis. And that decline is caused by piracy and increasing Internet usage," Forta said. "Turkey has not been able adopt effective measures when it comes to these issues. Developed countries such as France, the United Kingdom and the United States have taken effective measures. Turkey lags behind on that issue."
"Internet is one of the biggest problems the music industry has to face. However, I am not opposed to downloading music from the Internet," said Nil Karaibrahimgil, a young musician who launched her fourth album "Nil Kıyısında" (Inshore the Nile) earlier this year. "I have benefited much from the Internet as an artist. I was introduced to various types of music by downloading them through the Internet. The real problem can be solved by making sharing a profitable act."
"Piracy and the Internet have been hurting the industry badly enough. Now the crisis added salt and pepper on top of the problem," said Ferhat Göçer, another Turkish musician. "The average cost of producing an album varies between $100,000 and $350,000. I hope this industry will manage to pullout of the crisis without being damaged much."