On Monday (4/14) we will start a multi-part series of posts comparing recorded music sales within the bluegrass world with what has been reported in the larger music industry.

We interviewed Dave Freeman of Rebel Records, Ken Irwin of Rounder Records, Sam Passamano of Rural Rhythm Records and Tom Riggs and Ethan Burkhardt of Pinecastle Records. Each label head shared with us how their 2007 sales compared with the 9.5% drop in unit sales that has been widely reported for sales of recorded music in the aggregate (US music sales).

They also discussed how things are going for them with digital downloads, and how their marketing and publicity has changed in the new music industry environment in which they find themselves.

This is not any sort of hard numbers analysis. We simply requested and received feedback from label heads, and will share the results with you starting on Monday.