Wired magazine recently published infoporn on the great RIAA madness. Yes, I as well as everyone else knows that music swapping *can* hurt CD sales, but I am happy someone finally has shown that online music swapping has not been the only factor in the slow death of the music industry. Note:

* Since 1997 the cost of a music CD has risen from $13 to $15.25.
* Since 1999 CD releases have dropped 14%.
* Overall, CD sales have declined about at the same rate as cassettes did over the same period of time (ergo, the format is getting old).

It’s amazing when you look at the above numbers in conjunction with the massive amount of online swapping, that the music industry overall is only down 7% based on year on end earnings. Yet, the RIAA will have you believe Kazaa is killing the industry. It seems to me the dearth of innovation is what is really to blame.