Questão 91 - ENEM PPL 2° Dia 2010

The record industry

The record industry is undoubtedly in crisis, with labels laying off employees in continuation. This is because CD sales are plummeting as youngsters prefer to download their music from the Internet, usually free of charge.

And yet it´s not all gloom and doom. Some labels are in fact thriving. Putumayo World Music, for example, is growing, thanks to its catalogue of ethnic compilation albums, featuring work by largely unknown artists from around the planet.

Putumayo, which takes its name from a valley in Colombia, was founded in New York in 1993. It began life as an alternative clothing company, but soon decided to concentrate on music.

Indeed its growth appears to have coincided with that of world music as a genre. Speak Up. Ano XXIII, nº 275 (fragmento).

A indústria fonográfica passou por várias mudanças no século XX e, como consequência, as empresas enfrentaram crises. Entre as causas, o texto da revista Speak Up aponta