The Artist's recent attempts to circumvent the record companies and distribute his own music online have not reversed his steady commercial decline. David Bowie's release of Hours stirred up more media interest than actual sales. He recorded his band in a little bar club and sold it as digital downloads and Honky Tonk Union made number one on the Top Internet Sales chart in Billboard magazine . That was only 1,200 internet sales but Clyne marketed himself using the net, a physical CD and live appearances to jumpstart a career. The record labels are countering the threat from MP3 downloads by embracing more sophisticated digitised music formats like Liquid Audio or Microsoft's Windows Media Audio.
Physical retailers are the ones most under threat from the internet revolution.
Before its deal with Warner Music, EMI entered an agreement with Liquid Audio to digitise its catalogue for potential download.