“In a dramatic acceleration of the seven-year sales decline that has battered the music industry, compact-disc sales for the first three months of this year plunged 20% from a year earlier, the latest sign of the seismic shift in the way consumers acquire music,” Ethan Smith reports for The Wall Street Journal.
“The sharp slide in sales of CDs, which still account for more than 85% of music sold, has far eclipsed the growth in sales of digital downloads, which were supposed to have been the industry’s salvation,” Smith reports.
Smith reports, “In recent weeks, the music industry has posted some of the weakest sales it has ever recorded. This year has already seen the two lowest-selling No. 1 albums since Nielsen SoundScan, which tracks music sales, was launched in 1991. One week, ‘American Idol’ runner-up Chris Daughtry’s rock band sold just 65,000 copies of its chart-topping album; another week, the ‘Dreamgirls’ movie soundtrack sold a mere 60,000. As recently as 2005, there were many weeks when such tallies wouldn’t have been enough to crack the top 30 sellers. In prior years, it wasn’t uncommon for a No. 1 record to sell 500,000 or 600,000 copies a week.”
“The music industry has been banking on the rise of digital music to compensate for inevitable drops in sales of CDs. Apple’s 2003 launch of its iTunes Store was greeted as a new day in music retailing, one that would allow fans to conveniently and quickly snap up large amounts of music from limitless virtual shelves,” Smith reports. “It hasn’t worked out that way — at least so far. Digital sales of individual songs this year have risen 54% from a year earlier to 173.4 million, according to Nielsen SoundScan. But that’s nowhere near enough to offset the 20% decline from a year ago in CD sales to 81.5 million units.”
Smith continues, “Meanwhile, with music sales sliding for the first time even at some big-box chains, Best Buy has been quietly reducing the floor space it dedicates to music, according to music-distribution executives. Whether Wal-Mart and others will follow suit isn’t clear, but if they do it could spell more trouble for the record companies. The big-box chains already stocked far fewer titles than did the fading specialty retailers. As a result, it is harder for consumers to find and purchase older titles in stores.”
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Not to sound like a broken record, but when consumers have the ability to buy only the good tunes and are no longer forced to buy a CD full of filler crap, where’s the surprise in these numbers and trends? Hey, I like that song! Now it costs 99-cents instead of the $15 for the full CD of yesteryear. There’s a main reason for the sales decline. Here’s an idea: make more good songs and less bad ones (and stop with the DRM B.S. and think about upping the audio quality for legal online tracks while you’re at it) and you’ll probably sell more songs.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Tommy Boy” for the heads up.]
Related articles:
62% of music industry execs think eliminating DRM would increase music download sales – February 14, 2007
Disney film sales via Apple’s iTunes Store rise sharply; over 1.3 million sold in first three months – February 02, 2007
Apple’s iTunes Store passes two billion songs milestone; 50m TV shows & over 1.3m movies sold – January 09, 2007
Apple iTunes visits skyrocket 413% on Christmas Day – December 27, 2006
comScore: Apple iTunes sales are surging; revenue grew 84% during first 3 quarters of 2006 – December 14, 2006
Piper Jaffray: Apple iTunes Store sales show strong year-over-year growth – December 13, 2006
Warner’s Middlebronfman sees strong growth from iTunes Store sales – December 01, 2006
There’s a shift in the music paradigm.
Most new music put out by the studios just plain sucks. Really no surprise that people aren’t willing to pay for it.
In spite of MDN’s take and the views of many commenters here whenever this subject comes up, there’s a HUGE amount of piracy going on. It’s absolutely rampant, and not just with teenagers. People just want stuff for free and couldn’t give a shit about the record companies (fair enough!) or the musicians (NOT fair enough).
I do agree, though, that most of today’s music is crap. But it seems that kids’ tastes in music has declined to match it.
So this item is absolutely no surprize to me.
Signed, one grumpy old muso.
critic, you’re absolutely right. Music sales are down because there isn’t much but CRAP out there and that has been the case for years, my god, when Idol winners are suddenly the biggest music sellers out there, you have a problem, but hey, it gives the RIAA another excuse to blame others for their own problems… which is the America way in the last 20 years…
sad.
Apple have just been quietly continuing to build their iTunes business around the world. As Apple’s share of worldwide music sales continues its inexorable rise, and now with Apple TV shipping this week there will be mounting pressure on the movie studios to agree to a deal with Apple.
There is no doubt that Apple have been able to see exactly how to apply technology to this marketplace, well in advance of anyone else. Steve Jobs is driving a juggernaut!
And in other news, Britney Spears has returned to the studio. Mostly Sinead O’Connor covers.
I stopped pirating when the iTMS came out. In fact I replaced a lot of my most listened to pirated songs with iTunes versions. Why? Because I am willing to pay for good music so long as I dont have to buy a $18 dollar CD that only contains a couple good songs.
Note to music industry. Stop producing crap. People will buy more.
Obviously, the only solution is bigger, badder, more secure DRM.
Roel VanVelzen’s UNWIND is the first cd I bought in the last two years.
Guess what you get when publish “crap”?
Yes, there is piracy, and yes there is iTunes.
Now what are the top ten albums now, and what were they in, say, ’95?
@Moo…
The music world desperately needs more people like you!
Apple could easily leverage the record companies even more by creating an area in iTunes where the average musician could upload their song or songs for free, meeting requirements in arrangement, time, and content.
Then, any person could get their stuff heard without having to have a record contract. The popular downloads would then get record companies attention and they could find talent alot easier rather than digging through mountains of CD’s.
Imagine the talent wasted over the years because of the hassles of getting your music heard.
Easy solution…if you can upload a podcast, then why can’t you upload a song if it meets iTunes requirements? Free to upload and free to download…it would start a whole new industry, college kids would eat it up, and the record companies could still be picky and choosy and get the music and talent they want. I disagree with ads on iTunes, but in this area, ads and/or adwords could be there to justify cost.
Does anyone blame the lousy music sales on the lousy music that is out there now? MTV does not serve up talented musicians as radio once did.
When you hire bands and singers based on how much they look like hot fashion models, you get music fashion models would probably make if you let them.
The music industry should blame itself for letting MTV’s video sex images dictate what music is offered to the public. It’s not the talent or musicianship of bands anymore.
People might watch the suggestive half nakked video but they won’t buy the shitty music that was in the background of MTV’s soft porn video showcase.
BTW-
I seldom buy from iTunes, just the strays that I can’t track down. I also don’t pirate more than maybe 10 songs a year-that being from friends so I can check something out.
I do buy between 30 and 50 CDs a year. New and reissues.
Matter of fact, I got Corinne Bailey Rae last night at Target (for the girlfriend) and she did a cover of Zep’s “Since I’ve Been Loving You”. Now that was not expected, and I totally enjoyed it.
I love it when artist take chances on what they FEEL, not what producers say will sell.
Vive le Artic Monkeys!
Most of the stuff I buy is underground music, anyways. I doubt most of my purchases show up on the chart. Mp3s are a great way to sample CDs. If a CD is more than 65% good, I buy it. Otherwise, I get singles — if I can. If I can’t do that, and it’s not on iTunes (or Emusic), then that’s that. I can’t say I haven’t given the artist a fair shake.
Des Gusting,
if the Apple Store sold in Apple lossless quality I’d be buying every week, but as they don’t, I buy CD’s and put them on my iPod.
Yes, you can here the difference, especially when using good in-ear buds.
I use ‘etyomtic isolator’.
There’s also a *lot* more out there than there used to be. When you have 100 new albums to buy a month, people are going to buy more of each individual album than when there are 10,000 new albums each month.
Also, the same digital revolution that lets me carry my music collection around in my pocket means that I can buy mp3s or cds directly from the artist, which means they aren’t tracked in these numbers.
CD sales are slipping due to piracy.
Period.
It couldn’t possibly be that musicians today shell out boatloads of shit. Could it?
If there’s not enough money in the so-called music industry to keep making rich people richer, then that industry needs to reinvent itself and stop trying to force consumers to a status quo that no longer interests them.
Better wake up…
Like others have said in other posts, I’d be willing to pay more per song for songs encoded at a higher bit rate. Currently if I am interested in more than 2 songs on a CD, I would rather purchase a used CD instead of purchasing the album on iTunes.
@Toby Belch & Tower Tone…
“I buy CD’s and put them on my iPod.”
“I do buy between 30 and 50 CDs a year. New and reissues.”
Obviously, there are decent people speaking up on this list, and I agree with much (most?) of what’s being said. It’s just that here in Oz, where the standard price for a CD is $30, most people I see just pirate whatever they can. That includes people on 6-figure incomes, musicians, and supposedly “spiritual” types. I get laughed at for refusing pirated stuff.
@Georgy Porgy…
Check out the digital distribution off at http://www.cdbaby.net/
“I use ‘etyomtic isolator’.
So do I. They make a HUGE difference, especially when you’re sitting on a noisy train or something.
“…when consumers have the ability to buy only the good tunes and are no longer forced to buy a CD full of filler crap, where’s the surprise in these numbers and trends?”
Exactly. The music business has gotten away with murder for decades, but the free ride is over.
‘Oz, where the standard price for a CD is $30’
Damn! Does that come with AppleCare?
I say this should warrant a hard look at our culture in general. We are living with in a time when most people are mired in apathy. It’s apathy that kills music, not a distribution method. The youth should be pissed about current events, they should be involved in some way, but the general malaise lacks energy, spirit, or real rebellion. What’s wrong with these kids?
“…my god, when Idol winners are suddenly the biggest music sellers out there, you have a problem.”
Well said! Idol winners… Sheeesh! American Idol is a bloody popularity contest!
Also, who the hell honestly thinks MDN’s take has any validity whatsoever? I don’t know about you people, but the albums I bought years ago were amazing and had no “filler”. With today’s paradigm shift in the iTMS, I still buy full albums 99% of the time. It’s very rare that I buy just one song, and back in tha day, I’d just record that one song off the radio rather than buy a CD form a band I didn’t really like all that much. The idea that being able to buy one song is plummeting the sales of the music business as much as 20% is ludicrous.
I buy some tracks form iTunes. I also occasionally search for and download hard-to-find tracks from limewire (gasp).
But I also purchased four CDs last week, all older: Herbie Hancock-Headhunters, Toto-Toto IV, Toto-Fahrenheit, and Toto-The Seventh One. @Georgy Porgy — Long Live Jeff Porcaro.
I, too, definitely hear a difference between a track encoded at 128K and one encoded at 192 or 256K. I’m currently ripping my CDs as AAC at 256K.
MW lived — must mean Jeff, how do they do that? sonnovabeench
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The problem is not that “musicians” make crap. The problem is that the “music business” is just that. A music business. It’s about selling music. And, really, it has very little to do with music at all.
It’s a ride that could only last for so long, and that ride is coming to an end.
When music is made by musicians again (instead of by producers), we’ll enjoy good sounds, musicians will make money proportionate to what they’re creating, and producers will be partners rather than dictators and will cease to be millionaires.
‘The idea that being able to buy one song is plummeting the sales of the music business as much as 20% is ludicrous.’
I think Ludacris is plummeting the idea of music
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G-Spank,
Seriously, how old are you? You can’t base what’s happening on your personal likes or dislikes. Most people I know, including myself, now buy the songs we like, not whole albums full of filler.
I agree with MDN’s take 100%. So would 20 or so other people I know.
The only one ludicrous here is you, for thinking that you represent the world.
You got one thing right at least: “I don’t know about you people.” That’s a fact!
You asked for honesty, so go fuck yourself. Nobody cares how stupidly you buy your shitty music or what you think in your isolated little world of one.
I agree with MDN’s take.
that today’s youth are horribly apathetic (that’s a separate issue), though certain groups achieved incredible sales numbers in reissue land, in their day, punk records, political records of any kind, didn’t sell for shit. Also, if one looks at the exponential growth of music sales over the last thirty tears or so, albums debuting at number one selling millions of copies is a fairly recent phenomenon and just may have been a fluke. Before the internet people listened to the radio to enjoy music; an awful lot of them didn’t buy albums at all.
Yeah, G-Spank has been disconnected from reality on many issues–this is just the latest.
Nothing personal, G-man. Just get real!
I believe the big growth in the music business occurred in the 80’s, back when we had plenty of enjoyable music (along w/much cr*p, admittedly). Older people have been blaming the youth for apathy since at least the 70’s, but that’s beside the point.
Today’s music just plain s*cks–how long have we been stuck on the stale rap sound, for example?
Piracy Rules!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! GOD DAMN!!!!!
There have always been more bad albums than good and more filler tracks than worthy hits. Pull up the charts from 10-20-40 years ago and you’ll see this is true. And millionaire producers are nothing new but they used to be invisible.
Issue #1 – Piracy. As a poster said above people want to get stuff for free so they take it. I don’t want to start a flame war about the legality and morality of downloading tracks but it is reasonable to argue that music sales are down in part because consumers are acquiring music without paying for it.
Issue #2 – The lack of broad-based superstars. Once upon a time there were artists who appealed across age groups, ethnic groups and genders. Paul Simon, Springsteen, Neil Diamond and Michael (Thriller) Jackson are the type of stars that paid for the whole parade because individuals of every stripe consumed their stuff. Call it crap if you want but people bought it. Today’s market is so fragmented that no matter who you’re into you’re likely to think most of the Top 10/20/50 is s**t.
The industry is going full-circle. Once upon a time record sales were all about the singles and albums were an afterthought. A hit would have a crappy B-side track and those tracks ended up on the albums. With the Beach Boys and Beatles there was a new album-driven model which took over and it’s only now that singles are once again becoming the driving force.
2 cents poorer
As a card-carrying “old fart” I gotta say I think one of the reasons for the decline is less good music. Yeah, yeah – lotta rap and hip-hop out there but, well, it isn’t that appealing to me, and I have the disposable income to buy this stuff. Like MDN said, I can cherry pick the line now, buy the song I want and leave the crap behind. It’s gonna have an impact. Oh, yeah, I was a real hipster once – even used to be on the air back in the day. So get off my lawn you kids!
I like Toby have Etymotic earphones and have over 1000 CDs and 2000 Vinyl records. I’m a completist, so I tend to buy a whole back catalogue of someone if I like their stuff.
In the old days, when I first started to collect music, I always bought a whole album rather than a single. It was the joy of discovering what else the artist had done, even if not everything on their album was as good as the single, however often there were other fabulous songs that just didn’t get radio airplay.
I would happily buy all of my music from iTunes if it were available in lossless format (which I know isn’t solely due to DRM). I need my music quality to be high. 128Kbps isn’t sufficient, so I buy CDs and rip them myself in Apple Lossless.
I also still prefer to buy full albums rather than singles. I tend not to listen to top 40 stuff, so filler isn’t an issue. I listen to a mixture of indie, alternative, classical, jazz and other genres where music quality and recording quality are of paramount interest to the artist in the first place. However I completely agree that a lot of the music churned out by the big labels for the masses is crappy and contains formulaic singles and filler, which again is why I don’t buy it at all.
If I buy from iTunes, it is to grab a track from an artist whos CDs are no longer available in the store and for nostalgia sake I want get that old track I heard when I was a kid, but never owned the vinyl of.
Albums debuting with millions of units is as much a function of promotion as quality or even popularity. A large portion of week 1 sales are purchased by the labels and retailers.
And one more thing…
I always prefer to pay for my music. I’m not interested in pirating it. I want to support the artist (not the record company). I may well be in the minority, but that’s how I choose to operate.
The MDN take is absolutely correct. If I like a song, I buy just one song on the iTunes Store. As the digital music business (mostly Apple’s business) continues to build, artists will no longer need to produce “albums.” They can just produce songs. This will probably improve the overall quality of music, because the artists can focus on creating great songs, not a few great songs with mostly garbage filler material for albums.
People have always had the ability to buy singles. 45 rpm’s were around for the begining of the whole record sale business.
I agree with MacRaven, Cpt. Obvious and Rancher. The industry is more interested in how an artist LOOKS rather than the SOUND. Like the musician Christoper Cross (Sailing, Ride Like the Wind) said in a music interview, he wasn’t handsome enough for MTV and that was the end of him. Like most things in the world now, it’s all surface “bling” and no substance.
It’s poor music that is driving the sales down. There aren’t musical CRAFTSMEN, ARTISTS, and true MUSICIANS like the Beatles, Stones, Beach Boys, Genesis, Zepplin, Kiss, Clapton and whatever band he was in. ZZ Top. Many not cover boy materal or even ugly as sin but freakin’ talented to the max. Out of that bunch, the Beatles were the luckies to be both mega talented, pretty boys, AND fun to watch and interview, and all contributed to their mega-success.
Nothing worth buying.
” …it is reasonable to argue that music sales are down in part because consumers are acquiring music without paying for it.”
In the days of vinyl, people would record to tape, or they would simply share and trade their records.
There has always been an element of free music acquisition by consumers, so I’m thinking this is not a factor.
Crap music = Crap sales.
The truth? can you handle it?
Bulk loaded iPods given/sold to friends who normally would buy cd’s to play instead.
Just imagine each geek having 5-6 new girlfriends.
Now you know.
1. STOP treating your PAYING customers as thieves! Lose DRM.
2. START offering your customers compelling reason to buy music. Better content, more features, better digital quality downloads.
3. END the war on your fans, stop the legal crap, and give your fans a reason to like you not hate you.
i think its real shame when people only buy one song that they’ve heard say on MTV or something, not sure what all this ‘artists getting a free ride’ crap is about, its not like they are forcing us to buy a whole album just to get 1 or 2 songs.
When i hear a really good song, i go and listen to a few at the record stores or online, then go buy the whole CD. The albums that i’ve really fallen in love with over the past few years especially are those that i’ve taken time with and really put the effort into listening to, its these that really reward. Thats what music is about, not this instant satisfaction crap. THAT is exactly whats wrong, the disposability and throw away culture is helping to kill the music industry.
People who only buy the single they like make my brain hurt, why don’t you try listening to the artist, put some time in and maybe you’ll grow to love that album. I’d hate to have a library full of ‘singles’ or similar, the less popular tracks off the albums tend to be better anyway.
I know i can’t speak for everyone, but i think iTunes, as great as it is, (For getting older/archive stuff esp.) has really eroded the music culture of today, its all about instant gratification, and means that albums don’t get listened to as much, but i guess it means something will have to change to get all the tracks on an album heard rather than relying on singles etc to get the album sold.
The Music / CD ecosystem will have to adapt, and change is ALWAYS good, and totally natural.
I think its an exciting time in many ways, but i just hope that the artists don’t suffer, i couldn’t give 2 shits about the record bosses.
I like the idea of new artiists uploading to an iTunes – type store and bypassing the record companies. Think it’d be hard to police and keep track of, and it’d be so HUGE so quickly it’s be hard to manage also.
sorry, ranting on.
MW: United. hmmm very fitting don’t you think?
@justified –
Yes, there’s always been free acquistion of music but it’s gone to a whole new level. Back in the day if i wanted a song I had to have a friend who had the album and was willing to lend it to me. Now, I can download a track by any band and it doesn’t matter if my friends have heard of it or not. Also, taping a record was more labor intensive and required a physical medium. Now a single mouse click and space on your HD is all that’s needed.
@ IT2 – I agree with everything you write except to note that caring how an artist looks has been part of the industry since the advent of TV. Way back in the 40s, Maria Lanza (the “voice of the century”) lost a movie because he gained weight. And on that 70s time capsule, The Brady Bunch, the kids were about to become a hit band largely because Greg fit into the lead singer’s jacket.
I’m not saying it isn’t true. I’m just saying it isn’t new.
“Also, taping a record was more labor intensive and required a physical medium. Now a single mouse click and space on your HD is all that’s needed.”
Uh, these are one in the same. Is that mouse not connected to a physical medium? Computer. HD. It’s the same thing. Labor intensive? Not really. I remember doing it. It surely was nothing like digging a ditch or roofing a house. THAT’S labor intensive.
” …caring how an artist looks has been part of the industry since the advent of TV.”
Though this is true, you have to admit that there are extremely few ugly people on the music landscape now. But ugly didn’t stop great music from happening in the 60s and 70s. You know why? Because there was no MTV back then. MTV turned music into fashion.
The next step is to price iTunes lower say $5 per album or 50cents a song. DRM free.
Everybody will be able to afford the music they want to hear and everybody will buy.
Probably the only way forward…
I for one would start buy my music on iTunes if they got rid of that DRM crap. And an option to get lossless audio content would be a plus too.
I know I can get around DRM by burning it to CD and ripping it back, but for me the convenience of digital music is not having to deal with a CD’s, this is an extra step that wastes time for no reason.
@Justified – I agree – looks have always been important but MTV has made them IMPORTANT! I doubt somebody with Barbra Streisand’s schnozz would make it today.
However, I’m standing firm on the labor and medium comments. I remember many times having to find or buy a new cassette or decide what to record over. I recall finding the point on a tape where I had room for the next single. I recall setting record levels. I recall never knowing exactly what was on a cassette because I didn’t write it down when dubbing at 1a.m. while doing homework and/or having a beer.
It wasn’t roofing a house but it also wasn’t a single click. I can now download 20 tracks from 20 bands with almost no effort. (I don’t but I could)
For me the problem is fairly simple.
First, the day of the physical CD sale are over. I have an attic full that I will never use again, so why buy more? I want to download, not go to a store.
Second, I really want to support the artists who write the songs, but buying music legally limits where and what I can do with that music due to draconian DRM schemes. In short, they punish me for downloading music legally so I won’t buy from any of them. Ever. Period.
Third, Illegal downloads presently offer little downside to me other than some security issues, a little time to find what you want amid all the corrupted files, and the fact they also cut out remuneration to that artist.
If music companies want me to buy from them, then they must offer DRM-free, reliable, secure downloads. It’s that simple.
“Music sales take sharp plunge”
But he noted that sales had been flat. Ten or so analysts are not jazzed and key industry officials seem pretty beat. “A classical sign and not natural,” quavered one high-strung, plucky staff member who also admitted the industry as a whole might be in treble.
TMF
Nice pitch, except for the fine.
Where is Slim Whitman when we need him the most? Or Zamfir, the acknowledged master of the pan flute? Or Gay Puckett and the Union Gap? I’ll tell ya, only they could turn this whole thing around…
Oh, Romero
Aren’t you forgetting the man who launched a 1,000 trains? That restless soul who epitomizes the very essence that we, as mere mortals strive for, yet knowing the cause futile, to only hope for a glimpse of the genuis that is Boxcar Willie?
I actually still buy full CDs. Main reason is the better sound quality I guess (ripping at 192AAC). Also having full liner notes etc. feels better. However, I think that I spent close to 600€ on iTMS in 2006. It’s too true what’s been said about filler tracks on most CDs. I’m always surprised if I find a CD containing more than 2 good tracks. Last CDs I come to think of (excluding jazz or classical albums that is) where the whole album was amazing was Amy Winehouse’s “Back to Black” album and then of course that Swedish chameleon musician Salem Al Fakir’s debut album. BTW, check it out, it’s amazing! Anyway, I’m all for better albums (sans crap) but we all know it aint gonna happen.
I think everyone has some really valid points. Especially MDN pointing out it’s no longer necessary to buy a whole CD for just one song. I know with me, ripping my entire CD collection to iTunes has made my library more accessible. I spend a lot more time listening to my older stuff than I used to- because it’s right there.
“Not to sound like a broken record, but when consumers have the ability to buy only the good tunes and are no longer forced to buy a CD full of filler crap, where’s the surprise in these numbers and trends? Here’s an idea: make more good songs and less bad ones…<i>
Another totally immature MDN take with absolutely no objectivity. HEIL iTUNES!
“only the good tunes” and “filler crap” is an area of subjectivity to the extreme.
“make more good songs and less bad ones…” A TOTALLY idiotic statement.
From the article: <i>””The sharp slide in sales of CDs, which still account for more than 85% of music sold, has far eclipsed the growth in sales of digital downloads, which were supposed to have been the industry’s salvation,” Smith reports.”
In other words, digital distribution of music is doing NOTHING for overall music sales. PERIOD. Apple has sold well over ONE BILLION songs through iTunes and it’s not helping the slump one bit.
When record companies used to put out singles, they were made to sell the full albums (kind of like samplers to spark interest). A band would release a single and it would generate interest in the band/album (usually through radio air-play). They never pressed every single song on the album onto individual 45s. Now, *every song* can be bought as a “single”. IMO this is a *negative trend*, and is ultimately bad for the artists. *The entire album* is the artists satement, and should be taken as such. I suppose I’m a purist in that way (a proud, dying breed). Peoples’ attention spans these days is so short that they don’t want to spend the time to explore an entire album, and that’s just plain sad. Only the “hits” right? Have you ever bought a CD for a few songs and noticed how the rest of the album started to grow on you, and you loved the other tracks that didn’t catch your ear right away? I am into *bands/artists* not “tunes”. When I like a band, I explore them – buy their CDs and listen to them as a whole. Each album is like a snapshot in time of where that band was and how they progressed.
I think this new model of being able to buy any song as a single, not only cheats the artist, but ultimately cheats the listener as well. It’s commodity fetishism.
I agree the music for the most part is crap out and I refuse to pay 15-20 bucks for a CD that only has a couple of good songs on it. On another note I am completely baffled by the fact that no I mean NO ONE has tried to match itunes. These people out there are completely out of touch–in most other enterprises copy cats abound but not when it comes to itunes–really wierd. i mean couldn’t even M$uck at least copy itunes with a similiar online music store? Have we (mac) really locked up so much music that no one else can compete–complete idiots out there–music studios get what they deserve. Long live Steve Jobs!!!
Paradigm Shift. All optical media needs to just go away, and this is coming from a video production company that makes a living from optical media. It will be great when DVDs and CDs are things that our children laugh about and SNL 2015 series makes fun of. Everything should be either static storage or hard disc in my opinion. So much easier to work with and, with a responsible backup, more dependable and long lasting. Go itunes, Goodbye Tower Records.
Andrew Hamilton
Videographer Las Vegas
http://www.hiproductions.com
Most of the music I buy is at least 10 years old (and 10 years is almost only for rap), usually 30. Considering the fact that I’m 21, it raises a question: Is there something wrong with modern music?
2 hits and 10+ filler tracks. Lack of innovation and superficial customers.
I think we could use a new Jimi Hendrix.
MW: surface – describes todays music
A real artist playing a real musical instrument, into really expensive microphones in a really great studio, recording through a real Neve console onto really wide tape running really fast, or even better, direct to disk.
On the consumer side, affordable “audiophile” equipment – amplifiers using real tubes or discrete transistors. Speakers with really nice drivers mounted in real wood cabinets.
Ahh, music was so real back then…
2 u.i.: There have always been more bad albums than good and more filler tracks than worthy hits. Pull up the charts from 10-20-40 years ago and you’ll see this is true.
Of course there have always been more bad albums than good ones. But the good ones were, y’know… good! I think it speaks volumes that two of the “chart-toppers” so far this year have been Chris Daughtry and a movie soundtrack. When this is what you’re counting on to bring buyers into the stores, you have a real problem.
Once upon a time record sales were all about the singles and albums were an afterthought. A hit would have a crappy B-side track and those tracks ended up on the albums.
Yeah, and music was cheaper to buy back then. Music made a huge jump in price when CDs came out, and didn’t recover for decades, if it ever did.
The music industry dug its own hole. It seems intent on burying itself rather than climbing out.
In 1977 when I became a music consumer (with my own money) I vividly remember that albums cost between $5.95 and $8.95 (import jazz and classical). $5.95 in 1977 equates to $20.36 in 2006. Cheap deep-discount stuff was $3.95 ($13.51 roday).
In 1987 I became a CD consumer and I seem to recall that new albums were $13.98. That was a huge jump from vinyl pricing but there wasn’t much fuss since it was a new technology and relatively few albums were released on CD. $13.98 in 1987 is $24.78 today.
In real terms music has never been cheaper.
$0.99 today was $0.29 in ’77. I didn’t buy singles so I don’t know how that price compares.
Complain about quality all you want – that’s purely subjective and fun if done with good humor. There’s no basis for complaining about cost.
“MTV does not serve up talented musicians as radio once did.”
You’ve dated yourself MacRacen. MTV hasn’t been about music for 15 years.
In the age of vinyl most albums had 5-6 tracks per side and were 30 – 40 minutes total. There was the notion of “the perfect side” which meant 5 great songs in a row (there weren’t many). Any album with a perfect side was considered a great album, why bother to flip it? Now I think lots of people feel ripped off if an album has 10 tracks since they know some discs have 14 or more. Great artists of any era would have a hard time putting 14 winners in a row.
Even Sgt Pepper’s has Within You Without You.
“The music industry has been banking on the rise of digital music to compensate for inevitable drops in sales of CDs.
Nonsense. The music industry has done everything in it’s power to resist the change in business models, and now has to abandon systems rather than adapt. They refused to utilise the tools at their disposal to ride the digital wave, and are now paying the consequences. And sadly, so are consumers.
*The entire album* is the artists satement,
Please, spare us…. artists statement… What a laugh. Most of the so called artists can’t sing, few know how to play more than one instrument, and very few can string together a coherent thought, ever mind a song, much less an entire CD worth listening too.
The majority of todays “pop stars” only have to look good and know how to dance and lip sync.
Their songs are written by many someone elses, played by studio backup bands, overprocess and produced to correct the vocalists’ mistakes.
How can an ‘artist’s’ CD full of songs by many different writers and composers constitue a body of work that showcases the artists talents, and make a statement when all the ‘artist’ does is lend a face and voice to the ad campaign?
There were a few bands in the 60s, 70s, and 80s that could pull that off, and today most of the “album statement’ bodies of work are still being done by those old bands of yesteryear. Todays pre-fab facade artists don’t have what it takes. Why do you think so many of us young adult type people are raiding our parents music to find stuff thats any good?
Funny, I state my opinion, and I get:
“You asked for honesty, so go fuck yourself.”
Kinda reminds me of this quote:
“In a controversy the instant we feel anger we have already ceased striving for the truth, and have begun
striving for ourselves.” – Siddhārtha Gautama
Anyway, I just don’t think music plummeting is related to people buying single tracks. I think their are larger forces at work.
Demographics. The baby boom is at an age where they’re not as interested in music. Sorry to say, I’m among them. Shame on the music industry for not understanding this and dealing with it years ago; knowing one’s market is one of the basics of any business.
@darknite
I agree with you that the current state of music is crap….My comment about the entire album being the artists’ statement still stands. It just so happens that pre-fab, group art project, pop bands’ statements (albums) suck.
There is still good music out there, you just have to digg waaaaaaaay deeper than ever to find it.