Swedish Slump Adds To European Woes

Europe's ailing music market has been dealt a further blow, as Sweden reports dismal sales figures for the first six months of 2001.

Despite the local industry's tendency to rack up consumer-friendly single- and multi-artist compilations in an effort to compensate for a generally dry release schedule, the Swedish market endured fortunes similar to those of Germany, which earlier this month revealed a 12.6% decrease in revenue (Billboard, Sept. 1).

Sweden's CD market slid 12%, to 9.2 million units and 601 million kronor ($58.3 million), compared with the corresponding period last year, according to the local trade body of the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, GLF, which surveys retail shipment reports from the majority of Sweden's labels. Total sales decreased 14%, to 11.4 million units, with revenue down 13%, to 641 million kronor ($62.2 million). Singles were down 22%, to 2 million units, with corresponding value down 24%, to 34.2 million kronor ($3.3 million).

While Playground Music Scandinavia calls 2001 "the best [sales period] in our history [so far]," with new releases from Depeche Mode, Nick Cave, Basement Jaxx, and ongoing sales of Moby's product, its Malmö-based managing director, Torgny Sjöö, observes "a weaker release schedule" throughout the industry at large.

"[Moreover,] it's mainly the traditional best sellers [that] are experiencing the sales slump," Sjöö says. "While an artist could previously sell 100,000 copies of an album, the figure these days is closer to 80,000. Downloading from the Internet could be one factor."

Niklas Nyman, CEO of Music Network Records Group in Stockholm, agrees. "The industry recession has first and foremost had an impact on chart-oriented music, which in turn has led to illegal copying of songs."