Oct
3
Study: file-sharing leads to "chart churn," helps indie acts
But the rapid turnover on the Top 100 has had an unexpected side effect: more albums from the independent labels appear on the charts, and those that appear survive longer than they had before. Releases from indie labels are still at a disadvantage compared to those from the majors, but the gap between them appears to have narrowed. Those who predicted that file-sharing would help popularize more obscure titles appear to have been on to something. The report suggests that this may provide an additional, cynical motive for the majors to combat file sharing: song swapping reduces the majors’ influence in the music market in a way that has nothing to do with lost sales.
