Sweden Reports First Music Revenue Increase Since 2000

In a sign the great "collapse" of the music industry might be behind us, according to Digital Media Wire, TorrentFreak has reported music sales were up 10.2% in Sweden in 2009--the first increase in the country since 2000. Citing data from the record label trade group IFPI Sweden, digital sales were up 98.6%, while even CD sales enjoyed a 1.9% jump.

Sweden is home to the file-sharing hub The Pirate Bay, and many speculate it's recent legal woes and the subsequent spike in legal sources of music downloads and streams has helped push sales back up. IFPI reported that 46.1% of all digital sales in Sweden came from streaming services like Spotify, up from 17% in 2008.

"I think the main reason for the increase in revenue is the availability of better legal services," IFPI Sweden chairman Ludvig Werner told the Swedish local Metro.