Brits 2011 and the Music Industry

The new Brit Award this year designed by Vivienne Westood 

Its Brits night today, which means that for one evening at least, the record industry can forget its problems – sales down 7% in the UK last year – and instead chose to pass out while Tinie Tempah and Rihanna duet, or whatever else is on offer by way of entertainment. It's an iTunes shuffle night all of its own, with ITV hoping that its viewers will stomach Take That (easy) but also Mumford and Sons and Arcade Fire. And everybody who's there will go away cheerfully confused, particularly those who head on to the aftershow entertainment on offer from Mark Ronsons Warchild gig at the o2 or with the suits from Universal at the Savoy.

The hangover, though, has already kicked in for the music majors, as digital sales growth has stalled while physical sales continue to sink. Sony and Warner – the only two of the big four to have reported – produced rubbish fourth quarter results.

Sony, which has had Susan Boyle and everything Simon Cowell does, headed 10% south on dollar basis (surely the currency of the music business) in the three months to 31 December. Warner Music- Still hopin to buy EMI- gave up 14% and even chief executive Edgar Bronfman admitted that Bruno Mars aside it was not the company's best three months, before trotting out his mantra about how you can only judge corporate performance over an entire financial year.

Universal, the market leader, doesn't report until 1 March, but is unlikely to significantly buck the trend – and even its UK boss David Joseph admitted that 2010 was a "horror movie" in a Media Guardian interview this Monday because the company had failed to break any new acts last year. (A high proportion of Universal's best new stuff is comes out of the UK – think Amy Winehouse, Duffy etc.) Meanwhile, EMI is private and usually in a mess, and while insiders say its smaller publishing division, which represents songwriters is holding up at least, an EMI well-wisher has sent over a spreadsheet to show that revenues (in dollar terms) are down by 36.45% since 2004.

Well, we've all got the idea by now. And for some, maybe it doesn't really matter – there's no shortage of great music around, not least the rise of grime as a chart force. But in the long term, we ought to care (a little tiny bit) as to how record companies are faring because it's not obvious that the live business – which caters well for well-known, well-worn stadium acts – and the Cowell business can pick up all the slack. Somebody has to help out with the difficult business of artist discovery