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Thread: Album Sales Hit an All-Time Low

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    Album Sales Hit an All-Time Low

    I'm sure they mean "CD." Nevertheless, those of us that like physical product may be out of luck eventually.

    http://www.billboard.com/articles/bu...a-new-low-2014

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    Member Paulrus's Avatar
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    If the music industry is relying on stuff like Blacc Hollywood and the Frozen soundtrack to fill their coffers then they have bigger problems than just streaming versus digital downloads versus physical album sales. Some part of me thinks that (to quote the TV show Stargate) if a younger, hotter version of Pink Floyd or Michael Jackson were around producing today's equivalent of Dark Side of the Moon or Thriller then just perhaps sales might be a bit brisker, eh?
    I'm holding out for the Wilson-mixed 5.1 super-duper walletbuster special anniversary extra adjectives edition.

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    That's Mr. to you, Sir!! Trane's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by jrw View Post
    I'm sure they mean "CD." Nevertheless, those of us that like physical product may be out of luck eventually.

    http://www.billboard.com/articles/bu...a-new-low-2014
    I'm sure they don't.. they talk of overall sales, whatever formats added.
    my music collection increased tenfolds when I switched from drug-addicts to complete nutcases.

  4. #4
    Between piracy and being able to hear your favorite songs on youtube among other sites, I can see why kids today might be spending less money on music (whatever format). And since kids (e.g., 12-18) have been the biggest investors in music since the 60s or 70s, seeing them spend less on music will hit the record industry. I would guess also that most teenagers don't bother buying whole releases any more. iTunes has changed the buying perspective from CDs/albums to individual song downloads.

    As far as having a physical product, I do think the days of CDs are limited as are DVDs. Eventually we will be downloading everything. Of course, you could burn your own disc and print out the cover art on your own printer if you need something to hold in your hands and look at.

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    You are correct.

    I'm so old when I see "album" I think 33 1/3 LP. LPs are probably holding their own year over year.

    But the aggregate of sales, CD, downloads etc are not doing well at all.

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    Yes, troubling times for the industry- the sales charts incorporate downloads so it's not just a physical product issue. It's down to two things, as far as I can see- piracy and streaming. I'm not sure which is more damaging. The latter, they at least have control over...the industry needs to think long and hard about the streaming model IMHO.

    There's always going to be debate as to whether music is as good as it used to be. That can be argued about endlessly to little purpose, but it seems that brand loyalty certainly isn't what it was. The industry goes for quick success, more than it ever did. If they were starting out now, IMHO there's no way Yes and Genesis would have gone on to record 'The Yes Album' or 'Foxtrot', their respective breakthrough albums. And The Bee Gees would certainly have been dropped before their 'disco' period...meaning that one of the biggest selling albums ever 'Saturday Night Fever' may not have materialised.

  7. #7
    A question here must surely be whether sales through bandcamp or an artists webshop will count to their total? I seem to remember Zoe Keating commenting on this a while back as her sales figures didn't add up as a result of this.

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    When I buy a CD, I often awalk up to the merchandise desk at a concert and exchange my money for a CD. Other times, I buy from the band's online shop. I don't know, but many of these bands probably don't worry about reporting their sales to the appropriateb authority as they have no chance of getting into the charts. Yes, I'm sure that record sales are going down, but I'm sure that it is not as bad as everyone (well, record companies) would have us believe. What has happened has been that it is possible - indeed easy - to create music without having record companies. Musicians can cut out the record companies, and so they should unless these companies bring value in terms of getting the product to a wider audience.

  9. #9
    Quote Originally Posted by robh View Post
    Yes, I'm sure that record sales are going down, but I'm sure that it is not as bad as everyone (well, record companies) would have us believe.
    I'd say it's as bad as they say it is... we now have one local record shop which has downsized it's location significantly.. The demand for physical product is almost zero.. My kids grew up in the cassette age.. When CD's hit sure they bought a few but downloading was hip so they simply "shared" music between friends... that was the culture.. don't see physical product coming back in vogue.. planned obsolescence?

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    Member rickawakeman's Avatar
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    In my town, we have three brick & mortar "record stores", the newest of which, specializing in vinyl, just recently opened.

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    Member Birdy's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by rickawakeman View Post
    In my town, we have three brick & mortar "record stores", the newest of which, specializing in vinyl, just recently opened.
    This is what I see as the trend for the future. More smaller, specialty stores for vinyl(especially if prices come down somewhat on vinyl) and CD's becoming more or less "specialty" releases as well from labels that will licence releases from the disinterested majors and do more extravagant packages/boxed sets etc. And vinyl sales are not just from an adult market. I'm seeing a large number of customers in their 20's who are getting turntables and buying new and used LP's. Price is obviously a big issue but this is definitely an upward trend. It won't ever get back to the way it was in its' heyday but there is at least a large increase happening in vinyl sales.

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    Parrots Ripped My Flesh Dave (in MA)'s Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by rickawakeman View Post
    In my town, we have three brick & mortar "record stores", the newest of which, specializing in vinyl, just recently opened.
    We used to have 2 record stores, one in a mall that got ripped down in the 90s and another in a strip mall that went out of business around the same time. Now we have a drugstore that has a rack that has a mishmash of CDs and DVDs, a few dozen in total, and nothing that I'd even take home even if they were free.

  13. #13
    To be honest there are still lots of physical and digital sales! the big thing that totally scues this are that there are very few "massive sellers" or even sales of over 60,000 worldwide that used to boost the averages. There are still good numbers of 5,000 to 35,000 sellers.(and even a fair few in prog/Classic Rock and non mainstream) -- its not all doom and gloom, just not the giant beanofest it was for "some" in the past and the industry has changed as to what its about. It means huge advances really dont make sense for all but the very few "guaranteed sales" and massive recording budgets and hugely expensive producers too rarely make sense either. (There is an odd album it does, but not many) Artists too as many have said if they do their own releases and dont sell by conventional channels are not contributing to these figures--these figures come from all the "obvious" and quantifiable sources.

    It is true with regards to "younger audience" --on the whole they dont buy that much, relative to what they used to buy and often arent great "album listeners" . It isnt that music isnt still all around everywhere , its just it isnt so much though of as a buyable "commodity" , more like wallpaper, on the radio, coming out someones PC etc or on the TV. The more mature fanbase though on the whole often have different buying habits.

    It is however correct that its hard for record stores to make it pay if thats all they do--and this is usually a straight "price" or "location" thing to be honest, its pretty hard to compete with Amazon etc , unless the shop has got something special or nostalgic about it for you and from my experience these days I think for many "price" often wins. I love the stores and this saddens me but I guess at the end of the day peoples affection and love for the "browse" doesnt pay rent if the margins or footfall arent there.

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    Member Staun's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Paulrus View Post
    If the music industry is relying on stuff like Blacc Hollywood and the Frozen soundtrack to fill their coffers then they have bigger problems than just streaming versus digital downloads versus physical album sales. Some part of me thinks that (to quote the TV show Stargate) if a younger, hotter version of Pink Floyd or Michael Jackson were around producing today's equivalent of Dark Side of the Moon or Thriller then just perhaps sales might be a bit brisker, eh?
    And that's the problem. Maybe people are getting tired of listening to and buying crap.
    The older I get, the better I was.

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    That's Mr. to you, Sir!! Trane's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Birdy View Post
    Quote Originally Posted by rickawakeman View Post
    In my town, we have three brick & mortar "record stores", the newest of which, specializing in vinyl, just recently opened.
    This is what I see as the trend for the future. More smaller, specialty stores for vinyl(especially if prices come down somewhat on vinyl) and CD's becoming more or less "specialty" releases as well from labels that will licence releases from the disinterested majors and do more extravagant packages/boxed sets etc. And vinyl sales are not just from an adult market. I'm seeing a large number of customers in their 20's who are getting turntables and buying new and used LP's. Price is obviously a big issue but this is definitely an upward trend. It won't ever get back to the way it was in its' heyday but there is at least a large increase happening in vinyl sales.


    naaaaahhhh!!! Duuuudes, wake up (and a fairly welcome one, I might add)... Vinyls are a fad... outside the old nostalgiic geezres, the 20-sumthings are just on the latest be-hipper-than-thou idiocy... Pretty soon, they'll marry and have kids and regret spending fortunes on that silly trend...

    Get real, will ya... You're dreaming awake about Santa Claus... in colorama...
    my music collection increased tenfolds when I switched from drug-addicts to complete nutcases.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Trane View Post
    naaaaahhhh!!! Duuuudes, wake up (and a fairly welcome one, I might add)... Vinyls are a fad... outside the old nostalgiic geezres, the 20-sumthings are just on the latest be-hipper-than-thou idiocy... Pretty soon, they'll marry and have kids and regret spending fortunes on that silly trend...

    Get real, will ya... You're dreaming awake about Santa Claus... in colorama...
    Funny, as I read this I glance over my computer monitor and see 7 people looking through vinyl, 1 over by the DVD's and 1 looking at a used Trooper CD. Who's dreaming? I now have over 2500 LP's back in stock, 2000 newly manufactured which is an increase of about 350 total about 4 years ago. If it's a dream, don't wake me up.

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    Pretty soon, they'll marry and have kids and regret spending fortunes on that silly trend...

    No doubt, this affects everyone who's ever been into music and had a family. However, some of those 20 somethings will of course make lots of $$$ and be able to afford better systems etc etc.

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    mashable.com/2014/01/07/vinyl-comeback/

    Hmmmm.....interesting.

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    Interesting. "However, some of those 20 somethings will of course make lots of $$$ and be able to afford better systems etc etc.".

    Hmm. Not many, not many at all. 20-somethings with Masters degrees are working at Wall-mart. The days of a strong middle class with disposable income in the USA are all but gone. There won't be enough of those to hold up the industry.

    Last year *I* was middle-class, and so were a lot of my friends. This year I'm not, and about 70% of those friends aren't any longer, either. And I work in the tech industry in Austin, TX, which is supposedly one of the places in the USA that's booming.

    Most kids today, if they even HAVE any interest in music, download it for free ALONG WITH movies. I see it personally all the time, and I do mean personally. Even kids whose father still makes money off musical performance pay nothing for their music. And think nothing of the bands they love rotting away trying to make ends meet.

    Sorry. I wasn't born a pessimist; rather, I was forced into it by reality.
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mikhael View Post
    Interesting. "However, some of those 20 somethings will of course make lots of $$$ and be able to afford better systems etc etc.".

    Hmm. Not many, not many at all. 20-somethings with Masters degrees are working at Wall-mart. The days of a strong middle class with disposable income in the USA are all but gone. There won't be enough of those to hold up the industry.

    Last year *I* was middle-class, and so were a lot of my friends. This year I'm not, and about 70% of those friends aren't any longer, either. And I work in the tech industry in Austin, TX, which is supposedly one of the places in the USA that's booming.

    Most kids today, if they even HAVE any interest in music, download it for free ALONG WITH movies. I see it personally all the time, and I do mean personally. Even kids whose father still makes money off musical performance pay nothing for their music. And think nothing of the bands they love rotting away trying to make ends meet.

    Sorry. I wasn't born a pessimist; rather, I was forced into it by reality.
    No, not many(I stated "some") and I also stated that it would never be the same as it was but I do feel Physical product, especially "special" art work product, beautiful packages will to some extent always be available.

    I do sympathize with your situation but also feel your generalizing in a pessimistic way.

    I also feel a lot of kids are just as interested in music as we were but it's a totally different situation. Apples and oranges really.

  21. #21
    Member zravkapt's Avatar
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    These are the main reasons I believe less people are spending money on music these days:

    #1: Limited income. Young folks don't have a lot of spending money and a lot of older folks are making less than they were even a decade ago
    #2: Smartphones and video games are more important to a lot of people
    #3: There is so much music out there these days and the majority of it is recycled, derivative garbage
    The truth will set you free, but first it will piss you off

  22. #22
    There are all sorts of reasons. Downloading (legal and Illegal), streaming, narrowed playlists at radio stations, the higher price for physical media, the resurgence of the singles culture, the rise of video games and other technology in general, record companies being run by bean counters instead of music people, downturn in the economy and so on and so forth. I used to joke back in the 80's that I was 1/4 of the record buying public since I was constantly getting stuff. Now I may actually be 1/4 of the record buying public! Yes, sales are down, but in my store I'm still moving more CDs than LP's although LP sales have climbed over the last few years. But I'm in a very poor, rural area where we still have many people who don't own computers and still prefer the CD. How long that will last, I don't know.

    I had a random thought while reading the thread. For those of you old enough to remember, you could take a chance on an album based on the label. There was a good chance in 1973 an album on Atlantic had a really good chance to be good based on their track record. The record companies had an image. Atlantic was the home of Zep, Clapton, Rolling Stones, Allmans, Yes, ELP, Crimson, CSNY, Genesis, Bad Company. Columbia/Epic had Simon & Garfunkel, James Taylor, Jeff Beck, Santana, Dylan, Chicago, Johnny Winter, Miles Davis. Warner Bros./Elektra/Asylum had Van Morrison, Hendrix, Zappa, Fleetwood Mac, Sabbath, Purple, Doobies, Eagles, Jackson Browne, Neil Young, Jethro Tull, Joni Mitchell. MCA had Lynyrd Skynyrd, Elton John, The Who and tons of country artists. Mercury/Polygram had Rod Stewart, Rush, Uriah Heep, Thin Lizzy, Moody Blues and Capitol had The Beatles and their solo careers, The Band, Beach Boys...point is, these labels had their own style and feel. That had largely gone. Smaller labels like Rounder carry that tradition on. Not sure if that reflects on the current state of the industry but it used to be artists were proud to be on a certain label. There was some clout to being on Atlantic. I don't see that anymore.

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  23. #23
    Highly Evolved Orangutan JKL2000's Avatar
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    If they think that's the wrong direction they should stop selling downloads!

  24. #24
    I seem to remember the illegal download advocates arguing that they buy more music because they can sample it free. Their argument was it made the artists MORE MONEY, not LESS.
    I guess they were wrong....

  25. #25
    I guess Billboard didn't attend ProgDay...You should see some of the hauls....

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