WH Smith bins CD singles
Print storyDownloads to blame for shelf-clearing exercise?
Posted in Personal, 23rd February 2004 12:51 GMT
UK retailer WH Smith has blamed falling sales for the decision to pull CD singles from its shelves.
The company will use the free shelf space to sell other entertainment products. The decision followed a review of trading by Boston Consulting Group and Cap Gemini Ernst&Young, according to the Guardian. It will continue to retail CD albums.
The British Phonograhic Institute (BPI) estimates CD album sales rose 5.6 per cent in the UK last year. But sales of singles crashed more than 30 per cent.
The BPI is currently piloting a project to count songs downloaded from legitimate websites. This information will initially be used to help promote legal download sites and will then be incorporated into the existing charts.®
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