Digital Music Sales Help Shoppers Go Green
by Ashley Schiller
Published on August 25th, 2008
No Comments
An ever-increasing number of people are decreasing waste by purchasing music and movies online, according to Axcess News.
Digital sales now account for some 30 percent of all U.S. music sales and 15 percent globally, according to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry.
Analysts expect percentages to grow steadily. Take Apple and its iTunes store, for example. Sales passed the five billion mark in June.
According to Fortune, “It took Apple nearly three years to sell its first billion songs (Feb 23, 2006), ten months to sell its second billion (Jan. 6, 2007), seven months to sell its third (July 31, 2007) and fourth billion (Feb. 27, 2008), and only three and a half months to sell its fifth (June 19, 2008).”
Axcess reports there are about 500 or so legal online music services on the Internet, offering more than six million songs, so going green doesn’t mean the pickings get slim.
CDs and DVDs are difficult to recycle because they are made by combining various mined metals (aluminum, gold, silver and nickel) with petroleum-derived plastics, lacquers and dyes. Old disks often end up in the garbage and eventually the landfill.
Use Earth911 to find a location to recycle your old MP3 player or other electronic device.
