Saviours of the UK recording industry

Today, Shirley Bassey (72) re-entered the album charts with her first album of original material in 20 years. number 20.

The Guardian has an article commenting the latest example of a veteran artist who has found critical and commercial acclaim beyond retirement age. "It's been a vintage year for veteran artists," said the man from the Official UK Charts Company. "The success of older acts has been growing over recent years but it has peaked in 2009."

There are a number of factors behind the twilight glory of older artists, including the changing retail landscape. High street retailers like Zavvi and Woolworths have gone but supermarkets, where older music fans tend to buy their music, are playing a much bigger part in album sales.

Labels are realising that chasing the older market makes sense when younger music fans are used to getting their tunes for free. Is what we are seeing the final fling of the CD player versus the inevitable march of iTunes?

The list of oldies who are back in fashion goes on and on.. Neil Young (64). Bruce Springsteen (60), Leonard Cohen (75), Barbra Streisand (67), Vera Lynn (92)…….

The fascinating question for the music industry is if the strength of attachment that these older artists have with their own age cohort will be repeated in the future. I have no idea. Dick Stroud