Weekly music industry news from Hypebot:

CD sales continue to drop dramatically even as worldwide efforts to stop piracy and illegal downloading heat up. And a new study predicts that we have at least two more years of sales decline ahead. (Wow! This means we get a new president AND CD sales!)

The new Sansa Connect music player is scoring points with its WiFi capabilities.

A two part series on Amazon’s stalled music strategy and how to fix it drew comments and kudos. (Part One & Two )

Soul rocker Joan Osborne signs with direct marketer Time Life for new CD release.

There are a lot of unhappy staffers at eMusic as the Amazon sale falls through and no other suitors seem likely at the price.

The Warner Music Group sent a very mixed message on DRM after first seeming to authorize the sale of a cd/mp3 bundle on AnywhereCD.com then changing their mind.

See ProHipHop’s Hypebot Industry News category for past roundups.