Nielson Names Top 5 Entertainments Trends Of 2009

In music, sales of physical CDs were down 20%, while digital album sales were up 17%, and they continue to show growth. But what about the broader entertainment marketplace. According to Nielson:

1. Digital media shows solid growth. Digital albums could reach 50% of all album sales in 2010—up from 41%; Digital books, downloaded to devices such as Amazon’s Kindle and Barnes & Noble’s Nook, also present a new opportunity for publishers to combine text, music and video to create hybridizations of traditional products.

2. New functionality and price drops increase gaming usage. Playing off the success of the Wii, motion-sensor peripherals will add lifespan to the lifecycle of Xbox 360 and PS3 consoles. Additionally, console price drops and the integration of additional entertainment functionality, such as Facebook, Netflix and other video rental, music streaming or game purchase options will boost usage for each of the three game systems.  

3. Rehashed, replayed games risk saturating the gaming market. A number of new game releases are queued up for the first six months of 2010, including God of War III, Bioshock 2, Splinter Cell: Conviction and Mass Effect 2, and while previous releases of these franchises have been popular, the industry appears to be leaning on tried and true franchises versus risking unhealthy margins launching new IP.

4. Sports globalization offers a new range of opportunities. The Winter Olympics in February are likely to draw strong viewership on the back of the huge ratings garnered by the Beijing Summer games last year, and the World Cup—with the U.S. national team’s opening game against England—will attract a great deal of attention and boost the popularity of the sport in the U.S.

5. Piracy is a major concern for artists, authors and publishers. Continued growth of new and existing digital formats will intensify concerns of illegal usage, especially during hard economic times when consumers feel pressure not to spend.