Johannesburg — ALTHOUGH the total sales of the recording industry in SA went up 2,4% last year compared with figures in 2006, sales of music by local artists dropped 2,9%.

This was largely due to the growing rate of piracy, statistics released by the Recording Industry of SA (Risa) showed yesterday.

Total industry physical sales grew from R996m in 2006 to R1020m last year, while sales of local repertoire fell from R456m in 2006 to R442m last year.

Sales figures showed that British music company EMI got 22,4% of the South African repertoire sales, followed by Select 's 13,5%, Gallo with 12,2% and Sony BMG with 10,0%.

Risa chairman Ivor Haarburger said the slight year-on-year growth in the value of physical sales last year was in contrast with nearly all other markets around the world, which continued to experience sharp falls.

Haarburger said: "But as relieved as we are at this growth, it needs to be offset against the rising costs faced by operators in the industry as well as multiple threats facing our industry. These include the growing rate of physical and digital piracy."

Haarburger said operating costs, including studio recordings and video production, media, marketing and advertising, manufacturing and overheads, had risen by between 7% and 10%.

He said the wholesale price also fell across several formats last year. The costs of deploying Risa's national anti-piracy enforcement unit also increased due to the growing rate of piracy by organised crime syndicates.

"What all this means is that we are becoming increasingly dependent on opening up new revenue streams to sustain our businesses."

The released figures did not include sales of track downloads, ringtones and other digital products as Risa was not yet able to quantify them.

"But there was clearly solid growth in that area, although off a still small base," he said.

The international repertoire CD market grew from R540m in 2006 to R578m last year, while international market DVD sales grew from R1m to R1,2m and the South African market moved up from R1,1m to R1,2m. Risa membership rose from 440 to 807.