Two interesting articles from yesterday’s Daily Telegraph.
Britons now apparently read more than they did 30 years ago. Social scientists from Manchester University claim that women now read more and that the numbers of readers has increased from 13% to 17%. However the fact that women on average read six and men two more minutes a day than they did previously, is hardly earth shattering, or a fact that will change life. The data referenced is between 1975 and 2000 and is not even current. This unfortunately falls into the ‘noise not news ‘category and shows that its obvious nearly August and a time when we have a dearth of news.
Meanwhile another article quotes the latest figures from BPI, the music industry’s trade association. They show that CD sales have fallen significantly. Sales in the first half of the year fell in the UK by 10% and in the US by 20%. When netted against digital download sales, the UK decline is 7.7% and the US 9.3%. This is not the end of the world, or the end of music, but it is clearly the beginning of the model we once knew. This is not noise and a continued wake up can for all IP orientated businesses.
