不急预言CD将死

尽管增长最快音乐业务还是在流媒体，但是CD之死或许也严重被夸大了。最新调查结果显示，在英国，不少乐迷认为流媒体促进他们购买唱片、黑胶及数字下载。即使流媒体方便他们听音乐，乐迷们仍然想要拥有喜爱的音乐人唱片。

测试中可能遇到的词汇和知识：

plunge 陷入[plʌn(d)ʒ]

resilient 回弹的[rɪ'zɪlɪənt]

vinyl 黑胶唱片['vaɪnl]

mainstream 主流['meɪnstriːm]

viable 可行的，能够成活的['vaɪəbl]

outweigh 胜过，比…有价值[aʊt'weɪ]

阅读即将开始，建议您计算一下阅读整篇文章所用时间，并对照我们在文章最后给出的参考值来估算您的阅读速度。

CD sales in the UK more resilient than downloads （455words）

By Robert Cookson

* * *

CD sales in the UK fell at the slowest rate in a decade last year, according to figures from the Entertainment Retailers Association, a trade body that represents high street retailers such as HMV and Tesco as well as digital services such as Spotify.

Total sales of CDs fell just 3.7 per cent to 53.6m in 2015 compared with the previous year whereas in 2014 they dropped 8 per cent, in 2013 they fell 12 per cent and in 2012 they plunged 20 per cent.

The format, which generated revenues of £468m last year, is proving much more resilient to competition from downloads and streaming than many industry executives had predicted.

CDs are also proving more robust than downloads — a format once tipped to replace them. Download sales dropped 13 per cent last year to less than £300m.

“It is clearly way too soon to write off the CD or other disc-based formats,” said Kim Bayley, ERA chief executive.

“The fact is that different formats provide different benefits to different groups of entertainment fans. That diversity is proving to be the entertainment market’s greatest strength.”

Vinyl is also showing strength. Sales of vinyl records surged 65 per cent to £42m, with 2.1m LPs sold over the past year. After facing near extinction in 2007, when just over 200,000 LPs were bought, the format’s sales have increased in each of the past eight years.

However, vinyl still accounts only about 2 per cent of UK music consumption.

The fastest-growing part of the music business is streaming songs through services such as Spotify, Deezer and Apple Music, which tend to charge £10 a month for unlimited access to millions songs through the internet.

Revenues from streaming services increased 50 per cent last year to £251m, the ERA said.

Geoff Taylor, chief executive of the BPI, which represents the UK record industry, said that digital music subscription services such as Spotify and Apple Music “are going mainstream as more people discover how wonderful it is to have all the music in the world to listen to, whenever and wherever you want”.

But he added that physical music formats also had a viable future, as “millions of fans also continue to build treasured collections of favourite albums on vinyl, CD or downloads”.

The ERA said total revenues from music, video and games increased 5.6 per cent to £6.1bn last year.

All three entertainment sectors grew last year, with video up 1.5 per cent to £2.2bn; music up 3.5 per cent to £1.1bn; and games up 10 per cent to £2.8bn.

In each sector, growth in digital revenues outweighed declines in physical sales.

Overall, digital services account for nearly 60 per cent of entertainment revenues in the UK.

请根据你所读到的文章内容，完成以下自测题目：

1. When CD sales in the UK fell at the slowest rate during a decade?

a. 2015

b. 2016

c. 2010

d. 2013

2. Which format of following is proving more robust according to the article?

a. streaming

b. concert

c. vinyl

d. CD

3. Which one is the fastest-growing part of the music business?

a. online radio

b. streaming

c. online video

d. CD

4. How about the situation on entertainment business last year?

a. poor

b. insignificant

c. disappointed

d. good

[1] 答案a. 2015

解释：根据娱乐零售商协会的数据，CD销量每年持续下降的速度如今正在减速。

[2] 答案d. CD

解释：文章第四段，CD显示出来更强的竞争力。

[3] 答案b. streaming

解释：增长最迅速的还是Spotify, Deezer和Apple Music等这些流媒体。

[4] 答案d. good

解释：在视频、音乐和游戏三个单元去年都是有所上升的，所以娱乐产业的情况还是不错的。