Tanya Ellis, Star Writer

Courtney John

Across the globe, illegal CD copying (or burning) is being blamed for the decline in music sales. That, however, has not deterred many artistes from choosing download as the preferred vehicle to sell their music.

Some entertainers still recognise better benefits from the online sale service. The immediacy of releasing a single or an album online guarantees that all target audiences gain access to the music at the same time, without much hassle.

There has been some talk of falling digital sales, but as more customers are embracing the digital concept of purchasing online, so the growth of digital channels increase.

As the market for digital sales grows, so does the optimism. The sale avenue, even though still trying to find its feet, is fairly close to becoming mainstream and local and international artistes, alike, are taking advantage of the opportunity to reach the masses.

A recent report from the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) concluded that within the first six months of 2005, total sales of physical recordings fell. It was assumed that the decline was largely offset by a rise in digital sales. The United States and the United Kingdom continue to lead the digital music market. IFPI says single-track downloads continue to achieve sales in the millions and new releases now rack significantly in these online sales.

In September this year, Courtney John released his sophomore album, Unselfish on the FiWi Music label. The single Sometimes which was made available at several online stores, has experienced an impressive 34,000 downloads at such stores as Wal-Mart, iTunes, Napster, Sound quake and Reggae Country.

His latest single, Baby Tonight, is also in heavy circulation via the Net. Both the singles and the album have benefited in sales from this distribution channel.

Online sales figures are also being used to judge popularity of artistes since the information is far more contained than at transactional outlets. Most traditionalists, however, will not appreciate the value proposition of the online store and will not allow the classic record or CD format to become extinct, because of this it is constantly recognised that keeping these formats are still necessary to drive sales.

Unlike retail stores, e-tailers can guarantee very little security for illegal downloads. In the past, complaints have been made about the systems being hijacked by hackers.

"Revenues are being made from digital music sales, but not enough is being done about those who are not accepting responsibility for not protecting the copyright," chairman of the IFPI John Kennedy, in a statement to Billboard magazine last year, said.

This information offers very little reassurance within the industry since the question of accountability becomes complicated, as there is also concern about peer-to-peer file-sharing sights such as Facebook and Myspace, there is a general fear that new applications are being developed that not even industry security systems will be able to stop.