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CNN Live At Daybreak
Sales Last Week Giving Music Biz a Boost
Aired October 02, 2003 - 06:43 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Time for a little "Business Buzz" right now. So far 2003 has been a rocky year for the music industry, but a couple of new albums are sparking hopes for a turnaround.
Carrie Lee has the details live from the Nasdaq market site.
Tell us about it -- Carrie.
CARRIE LEE, CNN FINANCIAL NEWS CORRESPONDENT: OK, Carol. Well the first half of this year 2003 was anything but robust for the music industry. Sales fell nearly 11 percent for the period, leveling sales to $12.7 billion. A couple of reasons this industry is hurting, online music downloading continues to take a toll on the industry. And there were a couple of top sellers, names like Christina Aguilera and rapper 50 Cent, just not enough to keep the ball rolling.
Now there is a light at the end of the tunnel, sales were up last week, so that's sparking some hopes for a much better second half of the year. Also, seven debut albums from last Tuesday are all in the Billboard's Top 10, including releases from Outcast, Dave Matthews and Limp Bizkit. Also, industry executives cite a strong release schedule for the second half of this year overall, so they are hoping that things will pick up. We'll see.
Now taking a look at early stock market indications, futures are looking pretty flat for this day's session, this Thursday. Very nice rally, though, towards the end of the session yesterday. The Dow Jones industrials up nearly 200 points, gaining 2 percent. The Nasdaq even better, up 45 points. That's a gain of 2.5 percent.
One group of stocks we're going to be watching today, software names, Oracle and PeopleSoft. "USA Today" reporting the U.S. Justice Department is preparing a possible antitrust challenge to Oracle's $7.3 billion hostile takeover bid. So those are two stocks to watch, Carol. Overall though, things looking pretty flat right now, as I said.
Back to you.
COSTELLO: Well yes, but we'll keep our eyes pealed. Thank you. Carrie Lee live from the Nasdaq market site.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired October 2, 2003 - 06:43 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Time for a little "Business Buzz" right now. So far 2003 has been a rocky year for the music industry, but a couple of new albums are sparking hopes for a turnaround.
Carrie Lee has the details live from the Nasdaq market site.
Tell us about it -- Carrie.
CARRIE LEE, CNN FINANCIAL NEWS CORRESPONDENT: OK, Carol. Well the first half of this year 2003 was anything but robust for the music industry. Sales fell nearly 11 percent for the period, leveling sales to $12.7 billion. A couple of reasons this industry is hurting, online music downloading continues to take a toll on the industry. And there were a couple of top sellers, names like Christina Aguilera and rapper 50 Cent, just not enough to keep the ball rolling.
Now there is a light at the end of the tunnel, sales were up last week, so that's sparking some hopes for a much better second half of the year. Also, seven debut albums from last Tuesday are all in the Billboard's Top 10, including releases from Outcast, Dave Matthews and Limp Bizkit. Also, industry executives cite a strong release schedule for the second half of this year overall, so they are hoping that things will pick up. We'll see.
Now taking a look at early stock market indications, futures are looking pretty flat for this day's session, this Thursday. Very nice rally, though, towards the end of the session yesterday. The Dow Jones industrials up nearly 200 points, gaining 2 percent. The Nasdaq even better, up 45 points. That's a gain of 2.5 percent.
One group of stocks we're going to be watching today, software names, Oracle and PeopleSoft. "USA Today" reporting the U.S. Justice Department is preparing a possible antitrust challenge to Oracle's $7.3 billion hostile takeover bid. So those are two stocks to watch, Carol. Overall though, things looking pretty flat right now, as I said.
Back to you.
COSTELLO: Well yes, but we'll keep our eyes pealed. Thank you. Carrie Lee live from the Nasdaq market site.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
