Article: ANALYSIS POP MUSIC: Sales falling, tours cancelled. So why is our music industry in such dire straits? While record companies blame falling sales on internet piracy and competition from DVDs, others say the industry itself is at fault

TONIGHT IS the British music industry's official party night. Dozens of strutting artists accompanied by perma-tanned record company bosses will attend the one-night festival of corporate backslapping that is the Brit Awards. Or at least, that is how it used to be.

Hiding behind the on-stage pyrotechnics, slick dance routines and fixed grins of the winners will be an industry facing its worst loss of confidence - and income - for more than 20 years. The British Phonographic Industry, the trade body that set up the Brits as a showcase for home-grown musical talent, announced last week that the value of UK music sales slumped by nearly 4 per cent to pounds 1.18bn last year.

The announcement ...

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