News in Brief: Streaming accounts for 80 percent of all Danish music purchases

In other news, the foreign minister is under the cosh, a priest has been charged with abusing 12 children and August looks like it will be a bad month for mosquitoes

Ben Hamilton

Jul 4, 2017

Some 80 percent of Danes’ music purchases in 2016 were spent on streaming – a jump from 40 percent in 2012, according to Danmarks Statistik. Physical media such as vinyl and CDs accounted for 11 percent – down from almost half in just four years. The remainder was taken by digital download providers such as iTunes. The 2016 market was worth close to half a billion kroner – a figure that grows every year thanks to a steady rise in sales of international music fuelled by the tastes of younger age groups. Some 93 percent of 16 to 19-year-olds stream their music, compared to 27 percent of the 60-74 age bracket.

Foreign minister criticised for Trump remarks
Several party spokespeople for foreign policy have condemned the choice of words the foreign minister, Anders Samuelsen, used to criticise Donald Trump’s tweeting of a doctored archive video in which he is shown to pummel a wrestler wearing a CNN logo. Samuelsen’s comments included an appeal to Trump to “focus on the fight for freedom and reinstate respect for the presidency”, but Kristian Hegaard (Radikale), Michael Astrup Jensen (Venstre) and Søren Espersen (DF) have questioned the wisdom of the comments – perticularly given PM Lars Løkke Rasmussen’s misgivings about using Twitter. However, Naser Khader (Konservative) doubts the tweet will have any effect.

Mosquito swarms on the way
By the end of July, the country will probably be swarming in mosquitoes, warns the National Museum of Natural History. Recent heavy rain and temperatures in the early 20s have provided ideal conditions, insect expert Thomas Pape told DR. However, if August temperatures are cooler than normal, then the numbers won’t be very high. One town that has already had its fair share is Struer in mid-Jutland, which a month ago was plagued by swarms of a biblical nature.

Priest faces 30 sex abuse charges
A 47-year-old priest from Tømmerup in west Zealand faces 30 charges in relation to his alleged sexual abuse of 12 young people at his residence between 2006 and 2016, reports TV2. Included on the charge list are seven sexual assaults on children. Most of the victims were young boys. His trial is scheduled to begin in Holbæk in October.