ONE HALF of the Portuguese music industry has vanished in the last five years as sales have fallen by 50 per cent.
Most record companies have slashed their local music rosters, axed half of their staff and have become little more than international marketing branches for the main multinational companies EMI, Universal, Warner and BMG.
In 2001, the record industry in Portugal was worth 110 million Euros, in 2006 that figure had fallen to 55 million euros. The reason for this seems to be the economic crisis in Portugal, the lack of investment by record companies in local talent, the fact that people are now downloading music from internet sites and the continued problem of pirate CDs and DVDs being sold illegally throughout the country.
The effect of the crisis is clearly visible. Many shops specialising in music have already closed, and even the large supermarkets and electrical goods stores such as Worten and Continente are having problems selling music and making it profitable. The Carrefour supermarket chain confirmed that the music segment of its sales now only represents around one per cent of its business and that CD sales are continuing to plummet.
The Associação Fonográfica Portuguesa (AFP) has ordered a market research study to be carried out into Portuguese music consumer habits.
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