Over-40s propping up CD sales as teenagers turn to Web
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Your support makes all the difference.Kylie and Britney may be battling it out for pop supremacy, but music fans of a much older vintage are riding to the rescue of the music industry.
While teenagers are increasingly using MP3 players to download music from the internet, their parents are buying CDs to replace their treasured vinyl collections.
The fortysomething generation is propping up sales of CDs, the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) has found. Forty-five per cent of all CD sales last year were to people aged over 40 - up from 35 per cent in 1999. Teenagers accounted for just 16 per cent of sales - down from 18 per cent in 1999.
A plethora of comeback tours might also be contributing to sales, say industry sources. Bob Dylan played the Brixton Academy in London last night, while David Bowie is at the Wembley Arena this week. Other old favourites returning to live shows include the Four Tops, Blondie and Fleetwood Mac.
A spokeswoman for the BPI said: "There is so much more competition for teenagers' money now, with computer games, DVDs and electronic equipment, and that has led to single sales declining. But there is what some retailers have called 'the fifty quid bloke' - the middle-aged man who has money, who maybe goes out for lunch, turns up in the music store with his tie slightly askew, browses around and before he knows it, has spent £50 on CDs. That's the type of person who is helping sales of CDs."
Despite this, sales of CDs are continuing to fall in value. This year they are expected to be £1.8bn, from £2bn last year.
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