ERA protests at "blinkered" IFPI report which excludes physical formats

15 October 2018 - Press release

ERA CEO Kim Bayley has written to international record companies trade association the IFPI to protest about the organisation's new Music Consumer Insight Report which fails to mention physical formats once in its twenty page review of music fans' listening habits.

Bayley points out that according to the IFPI's own statistics, physical music sales were worth $5bn in 2017.

The IFPI report focuses almost wholly on streaming.

Writes Bayley, "No one is more enthusiastic about the rise of streaming than ERA. Indeed it is our members including Spotify, Amazon, Deezer and Google who are substantially responsible for the recent upturn in the recorded music industry's fortunes.

"However, all of our members are agreed – as outlined in our recent manifesto, Delivering The Future Of Entertainment^[1] - that the key to a healthy music eco-system is a diverse channel landscape, embracing physical as well as digital formats."

Bayley urges the IFPI to abandon its "blinkered view of the world" and instead adopt the more supportive approach taken by the major record company members of the IFPI and the UK's BPI trade association which this weekend, together with ERA, launches a new National Album Day promotion devoted to celebrating albums regardless of format".