Los Angeles, Feb 06: A funny thing happened on the way to the music industry's funeral. The corpse twitched. In a burst of good news days before the recording industry honours its best at the Grammys, Nielsen Soundscan reported that music sales so far in 2004 are up 10 percent over the year-ago period. That continues a trend that saw 2003 sales post a slower decline for the first time in three years. Albums from hip-hop duo Outkast, rock band Evanescence and singer-songwriter Sheryl Crow have been good for business.
But whether the obituary was premature remains to be seen. After all, sales are relatively sluggish for the latest releases by such acts as rock bands Limp Bizkit and P.O.D., pop singers Pink and Britney Spears, rapper Missy Elliott and Latino crooner Enrique iglesias. What's certain is that when the music industry pats itself on the back at the 46th Annual Grammy awards in Los Angeles on Sunday, the celebration will be the last hurrah for many musicians and record label employees.

Three of the five major labels are undergoing changes of ownership, and staffers are braced for layoffs and roster reductions as part of the inevitable round of cost-cutting. The labels should emerge leaner and meaner to battle internet piracy and threats from rival forms of entertainment, like video games, but some observers are not impressed.

Bureau Report