Folknacious,
Despite what the BPI said last week ("entertainment retailers across the board worked with their suppliers to end the year with a far better result than anyone had expected". Ah, bless!), the longer term evidence points to the CD (physical packaged product) being in rapid decline. 176 million albums were sold in CD format in the UK in 2004, 112 million last year.

I've lost my calculator, but that gives the CD, erm, about...

Re online rip-offs, it would be interesting to know what makes up the price of your average £8-£10 online album these days.

I was looking to buy a digital download the other day of an album that I first owned on vinyl, then bought on tape when the record got too scratched, then bought on CD when the tape got chewed up, then the CD was nicked. (it would have been the fourth time I'd have coughed up for the same product if I'd gone ahead - great sales model while it lasted).

As far as i can work out, the costs of the digital download version are: recording - nil, manufacturing - nil, distribution - almost nothing, artist royalties (almost nothing). Hmmmm.

Presumably that's one of the reasons why more people are doing more illegal file-sharing - that and the fact that it's the ONLY way you'll ever (according to Ralphie's doom-laden account of the spiralling costs of digitisation) get to hear one of those "rare old folk albums" that started off this thread.

P.S. I see that Ronan Keating says today that he thinks "eventually all music will be free. You pay a yearly subscription and you get all your music free." Not if you're into folk music you won't, Ronan.