Worldwide record sales down to lowest level since 1985

I'm sick of the decline in record sales being blamed on downloading. Many people do download, but many of those people also buy records. While I've been known to grab a track or two from the interweb (legally), I still buy a lot of records on vinyl, on cd, on tape, and from iTunes when I decide that I hate myself (personal issue). And, I know a lot of people like me who do the same. If the record labels want to get their sales up, they should just go ahead and release bands that don't suck and make CDs more affordable. It's an easy answer, but the labels are too obsessed with their bottom lines rather than the music.

the record executives are scapegoating downloading as an excuse to buy a new limo, they just cant take the fact that times are changing and their business model will have to change with the times or face what they are in now.

downloads are to blame
you can get almost anything for free virtually immediately
some lovers still buy hard copies but even they have bootleg mp3's
my business has lost a fortune because of this but i don't mind because all music being free in the end would be great; if all children were issued a memorystick containing all recorded sound ever, imagine that for humanity
i do think artists will miss out from indistry support and in some cases a&r but others will come through, it makes it harder to make a career out of it, maybe has to be fitted in round more essential commitments that could previously be avoided

It is not the fact that you can download the music they are selling that is bringing download their castle, it is the fact that there is better music to be found on the internet that people are listening to instead. :P
The other thing is games. Believe it or not people are finding games more enjoyable than listening to music. :( This is abit sad.. we are losing more and more of what is left of our culture.. well maybe we are not? Maybe we are just changing to something better. Who am I to tell though..

I would personally pay good money for an album if the music did not suck so bad today! I don't download illegally, you couldn’t pay me to listen to today's top 40. I'd rather listen to someone taking a crap than listen to anything on today's top 40! I am 27 years old and have nothing but contempt for the music industry since 1993 or so with some exceptions. I liked the 80's stuff very much and find it hard to believe that sales were really that low then. Perhaps people just haven’t caught up to it yet as much of it musically (not lyrically) was way above most people's thinking, and yes I can prove this easily. You would have to be brain dead if you can't see the huge difference in quality of music from top 40 1980's vs. today's top 40. People enjoy listening to very simple cheap screechy out of key singers pop music or dark depressing metal and ghetto music which for the life of me I can't understand one bit. Id rather listen to nails on a chalk board and a 2 year old scream on a plane for 7 hours than listen to this crap! The last 15 years of music has for the most part been a nightmare to me, it's ruined everything. Gee crime went up, schools went to hell, our cultures went to hell, America went to hell! This is my opinion if you don't like it I really don't care. Take your dark depressing ghetto loser angry white trash music lifestyle and stick it where the sun don't shine! Long live the 80's! We built this city on Rock and Roll! not stupid porno pop, angry white man, ghetto complaining Crap!

Oh dear, they're only selling 1,870,000,000 records a year? With each 'record' costing about 14 dollars each that means the record industry is only bringing in 26,180,000,000 dollars a year?

Jesus, how can they possibly survive on that kind of income? How will all those ceo's survive the year without buying a new mega-mansion or a few brand new escalades?!

I shudder to think that anyone can complain about only making 26.18 billion dollars a year.