The near future appears to hold mainly sour notes for the beleaguered music business, according to eMarketer.
U.S. sales of recorded music will slide to $5.5 billion in 2013, down from $7.3 billion in 2009, eMarketer said. This downward trajectory extends a pattern that began in 2000, when sales of physical sound-carriers began to decline after rising dramatically during the heyday of the CD.