Figures published by the IFPI recently states that overall global music sales have fallen by at least 5% with physical and digital sales dropping from $20.7 billion in 2005 to $19.6 billion in 2006 (Reading Industry in Numbers, 2007). According to Soundscan since the beginning of 2007 physical album sales have fallen by 15.1% (230 million units) and that's only over the last 6 months. However, digital sales have been increasing by at least 48.5% (417.3 million units of tracks). These digital sales have been helping to compensate for the exponential decline in physical album sales. But there are still growing concerns over the future of the industry as a whole, the focal point of discussion being music piracy. According to Stephen Norm, UK MPA's CEO "Consumers think that music is somehow free. So while we have seen the year-on-year decline of the recording industry, we've seen the rise of user-generated content…..We need to find ways to synchronise those rights. I have become more and more convinced of the necessity of the closer co-operation between publishers, users, the public and the government." (Billboard, 2007)

But publishers are not the only ones responsible for uploading and downloading so the question will always remain "how does one combat illicit file-sharing". There has been aprox 20 billion illegal file downloads in 2006. Whilst this problem persists Christian organizations have been relying on the integrity of their audiences to behave responsibly and abstain from illegal downloads and bootlegging.

Current Market Share: (source: Soundscan) Please note that the following figures do not account for the vast amounts of indie sales that are no being processed through Soundscan technology.
Universal Music Group: 31.6%
Sony BMG Music Entertainment: 25.2%
WEA: 20.3%
EMI: 10.3%
Indie: 12.85%