The sound of sales cheers the music business in 1994.

Sales for year are expected to easily surpass 1993's record

The music business made cash registers sing in 1994, with sales of recorded music products hitting what is expected to be record high note for the 11th straight year.

Though final numbers have yet to be tabulated, Jay Berman, chairman of the Recording Industry Association of America Inc., said 1994 sales should easily surpass the 1993 record mark of $10 billion.

"I think this will be one of our best years ever," Berman said. "It is conceivable that the units sold could be up 14 percent over (1993)."

The RIAA reported that almost 956 million units of prerecorded music were sold in 1993 -- a 6.7 percent increase over the previous year. At suggested retail list price, that translates to about $10 billion worth of 1993 sales, up 11.3 percent over 1992's record sales of $9 billion.

This steady growth trend continued through the first half of 1994 with sales of $4.8 billion, up nearly 12 percent over the first half of 1993, according to the RIAA.

If the second half of the year saw similar 12 percent growth, 1994 proceeds from music sales could reach $11.2 billion.

"And the second half of 1994 looks very, very good," Berman said.

Strong holidays

During the Thanksgiving weekend, music sales were up as much as 5 percent from the prior year's Thanksgiving weekend take -- also a positive sign, said David Mount, president and CEO of Burbank-based Warner/Elektra/Atlantic Corp.

Mount credited a stronger economy, growing consumer confidence and an expanded base of retail outlets for the growth.

"From the aggressive buying patterns we've seen and the optimism we've been hearing, all signs point to a superb ending to what has been a great year for WEA Corp. and for the music industry as a whole," Mount said. He further predicted that WEA's fourth-quarter 1994 sales will be the highest in company history.

Mount said Warner Music Group, the nation's largest music distributor and parent company to WEA Corp., is seeing annual sales growth of about 14 percent.

Revenues for 1993 were at $3.3 billion, with 1994 bound to top that figure, company officials said. Earnings before interest and taxes for the third quarter of 1994 were $172 million, up 30 percent from the same quarter in 1993.

Warner leads the recording industry in terms of 1994 market share, with about 24 percent of industrywide sales, Mount said, followed by the Sony Music Group, with about 16 percent.

Among Warner's top money earners are REM, Anita Baker, Eric Clapton and Green Day.

Sony Music Group -- which includes the Columbia and Epic labels -- has also posted strong music sales.

For the first six-months of Sony's fiscal year ended Sept. 30, 1994, Sony Music's revenues were $2.3 billion, up 6.6 percent over the like period in 1994.

Sony's top money earners included Mariah Carey's "Music Box," with 20 million copies sold in 1994, and the "Forrest Gump" soundtrack, with more than 3 million copies sold last year.

Sony Music, headquartered in New York with West Coast offices in Santa Monica, also announced the Jan. 1, 1995 launching of a new Santa Monica-based record label to be headed by Jeff Ayeroff and Jordan Harris, who are credited with much of the success of Virgin Records America, where they were co-chairman from 1986 to 1993.

Flying discs

The RIAA's Berman said music sales are up because music has become an integral part of people's lives, as evidenced by the fact that sales have continued to climb even during the recent recession.

"People are simply going to buy recorded music," he said.

Secondly, Berman said, there is a wider variety of music available now than ever before. The variety has grown as major record labels realize they don't need to hit the mass market every time to turn a profit.

And, Berman pointed out, sales of more-expensive compact discs are continuing to grow, while cassette sales continue to shrink. Thus, record companies are able to generate more revenues per unit sold.