NPD data bad news for biz, Spotify

THE INCREDIBLE SHRINKING RECORD BIZ: The number of U.S. music purchasers declined by a whopping 24 million, or 21%, between 2007 and 2009, according to data presented the NPD Group at Digital Media Wire's Digital Music Forum East conference in N.Y. this week. Not surprisingly, the market lost 33 million CD buyers during the same period. More surprisingly, the number of Americans purchasing song downloads also dropped, from 35.2 million in 2008 to 34.6 million last year. NPD analyst Russ Crupnick attributed the digital falloff to consumers experimenting with downloads and then losing interest. (2/26a)