I was given this opportunity to get out of the record business and into the music business and from where I sit, coming from a major label to ATO, the music business is extremely healthy
- Bruce Flohr – from Before the Music Dies

In visiting Michael Geist’s blog looking for comments on previous posts last week I came across his post on the recently released report “The Canadian Independent Music Industry An Examination of Distribution and Access” [html, PDF].

Just reading it now myself but the tone is certainly optimistic overall for the Canadian independent industry and music in general. From Michael Geist’s comments:

It distinguishes between the music industry and the CD industry, with the former very healthy and the latter diminishing year-by-year. Left unsaid, though no less important, is to distinguish between the Canadian music industry, which is dominated by independent labels, and CRIA, which largely represents the industry outside the country.

So where the above speaks to the overall industry and addresses a range of issues how about sales? As far as actual sales go for last year, well things look good there too:

• Overall music purchases were up nearly 10% from 2005
• Nearly 15 million digital tracks were purchased; an increase of 122% over 2005

Via Hypebot

Personally, I think good times are coming for the independent musician/artist.
Forget the fluff and wanna bes. The ones that can get out there and perform will soon be benefiting.

As far as the end of the recording industry, and lawsuits et al. – think about this – in a country [Canada] where you can’t be sued for illegal downloading [so far], OVERALL SALES ROSE 10%.

Extra Credit Reading: An email sent to Bob Lefsetz addressing the lack of competition between the majors/within the music industry raises some very important points and provides much food for thought for anyone considering a career as an independent label owner today.

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