George P is optimistic about rising audiences coming our way. I thiunk this happening, and is going to continue. In spite of the economic down turn, there are definite straws in the wind showing that live gigs are on the up and up. That is my own experience, certainly.
At the most mundane level, we do a monthly informal gig in our local pub. People have started coming earlier to get good seats over the last six months: including a gig on Jan 7, which you would think was the ultimate pits of the year.THat I fion d interesting. And there are new venues/clubs opening, festivals all over the place. George could be right(I hope). AS regards CD sales...I dont see them collapsiong for folkies in the next year or two, but I expect a general decline is coming. What we all need to do is make them worth owning...nice looking, good booklet. They will never be as good(or as practically useful!) as LP covers, but they do have something going for them. I certainly like something to have a look at when I sit down to enjoy my first listen to a CD(generally my only listen, unfortunately, these days!).