This was report-card week for the global recording industry as they issued reports on music sales for 2006.  Lost among the various headlines (Howard points to 10% growth in Canada; press reports talked about the IFPI targeting ISPs) is a far more significant development. Canada was among the fastest growing digital download markets in the world, outpacing the United States and Europe. Last week, CRIA President Graham Henderson was telling the media that the Canadian digital market was not taking off and that "people are simply abandoning the marketplace altogether, and they've made the decision they'll just download the music and worry about how the artist gets paid later."

Not so. Canadian digital download sales grew by 122 percent last year, increasing from 6.7 million to 14.9 million (digital albums increased by a similar percentage).  By comparison, the U.S. grew 65 percent and Europe by 80 percent.  These are the industry's own numbers – far from abandoning the digital market, the Canadian market is growing faster on a percentage basis than the United States and Europe.

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