Some things are a permanent fixture on the U.K music calendar every year.

A Pop Idol will be number one at Christmas; Westlife will release another widely successful album with no memorable tracks, and Robbie Williams will complain about being so rich and successful (ok, so maybe the last one might change – does anyone remember Rudebox?).

But the year did throw up some surprises. 

From a retail point of view - the music industry took a battering in 2007. The continuing decline of CD sales led to major repercussions for the high street.
In September, Virgin boss Richard Branson sold off his Virgin Megastore chains to a management buyout team, who then re-branded it ‘Zavvi’ - which sounds like a cross between a continental footballer and a mid-range Vauxhall car. 

Two of Britain’s largest independent music retailers, Music Zone and Fopp, went into administration. Even HMV - the country’s flagship high-street retailer – recorded a 73% drop in profits, with bosses blaming the poor results on a consumer shift towards downloadable music.

This shift towards downloadable content has become even more apparent, with the amount of downloads in 2007 up 50% from 2006’s.

In many ways, 2007 was a year of innovation, with established artists choosing alternative methods of delivering their music to the fans; methods which let the artists bypass the increasingly harsh restrictions imposed on them by the large record companies. 

(The artist currently known as) Prince took the unprecedented step of giving away his new album for free inside a copy of a Sunday newspaper. This turned out to be a shrewd move: he received a hefty pay-deal up front, and the media attention that came with the decision helped him to fill the O2 Arena for the subsequent tour dates.  

Some artists, such as Bob Dylan and Paul McCartney, struck up exclusivity deals with the coffeehouse behemoth Starbucks, which meant that certain albums would only be available for purchase through Starbucks outlets.  

But it was Radiohead who caused the greatest stir, as they decided to let the fans choose how much they wanted to pay to download their new album, In Rainbows. The band decided not to release statistics from the sale - aside from stating that they had ‘made a profit’ - but an unofficial survey put the average selling price at £2:90, with 6 out of 10 people deciding to pay nothing at all.

Record companies were, understandably, slightly miffed that these artists chose not to sell the music through their channels.

Industry giants EMI and Warner Music had a particularly dire year. The download boom, coupled with the instability of the music market in general, contributed to a 75% fall in Warner’s stock price over the course of the year.

EMI was also left smarting after the loss of some of its more lucrative ‘cash cows’, most notably Radiohead and Paul McCartney. 

Social networking sites such as MySpace continued to provide a platform for emerging talent, with Londoner Kate Nash stepping out of Lilly Allen’s shadow long enough to hit the top of the chart with her catchy single, Foundations.

In 2007, the public was also treated to a number of high profile reunions – the most anticipated being Led Zeppelin’s one-off gig at the O2 Arena. But you’d have had a greater chance of finding a golden ticket in a Willy Wonka bar then getting your hands on a ticket to this concert. In excess of 1m people applied for one of the 20,000 tickets, with Ebay users selling them for upwards of £3000.

Those who were fortunate/rich enough to get in found a band that still possessed the magic that made them superstars 30 years ago. They were just a bit fatter.
 
The Spice Girls also decided to reunite, in what was, essentially, an attempt to ‘do a Take-That’ (an emotionally charged documentary, followed by announcement of new tour dates and a CD). Their first performance, however, was met with a mixed reception from fans and critics. Therefore it remains to be seen whether the group can continue to ride off the success of Take-That’s (reassuringly expensive) M&S coattails, in 2008. 

Take-That, on the other hand, went from strength-to-strength. Tickets for their latest arena tour sold out within 3 hours, and their comeback album A Beautiful World sold more then 2.5m copies worldwide.

But it was troubled star Amy Winehouse who had the U.K’s best selling album. Back To Black, which was released late in 2006, went on to sell 1.5m copies by the end of the year.

This achievement was, unfortunately, just sweet icing on top of a rotten cake.
Amy dominated the tabloid headlines almost as much as she did the charts; everyday there seemed to be another story about her ‘dramatic weight loss’ or ‘dependency on drugs’. She was booed throughout a Birmingham gig in November, after slurring her way through the set-list, and reportedly swearing at the audience.

Yet - despite all this – she was still nominated for 6 Grammy awards. 
In any other industry, they would offer professional help to those suffering from addictions to drugs or alcohol; in the music industry they offer Grammys.

2007 was a transitional period for the industry. Power has been seized from the grasp of the large corporations, and now they are left with one option: evolve - or die (melodramatic, I know).

Perhaps artists such as Radiohead may end up regretting the decision to bite the hand that has fed them so copiously over the years – but they have shown that there are ways, other than the traditional label route, of delivering their product to the masses.

It seems that 2008 is going to provide an exciting, if somewhat unpredictable, musical environment. One thing is for sure, though: Robbie won’t be joining Take-That - Gary just wouldn’t allow it!