Album Sales Continue to Plummet

I'm surprised King Kobra earned a penny...

S.D. wrote:

I'm surprised King Kobra earned a penny...  

Overpaid if you ask me

S.D. wrote:

People want to assign all blame to Spotify and sure, they're just a bunch of greedy corporate suits as well, but the real villains now and always...are the record labels.  

The thing that irks me about Spotify is how they try and turn things around like they are somehow the victims here. They put out these releases that try to make them sound like they are championing the artists and are all about the music community, when the truth is they're just as bad as the record labels.

Don't piss down my back and tell me it's raining, Spotify.

Yeah, I agree, it's typical corporation bullshit.

Here's what Spotify is really saying with those ads:

"Hey guys, if you want us to be able to pay more money to the artists, then the record labels need to come down on their ridiculous rates for licensing this content."

I read in the today's paper that country artist Jason Aldean followed Taylor Swift's lead this week and yanked his latest album off of Spotify .... but his back catalog is still available there.

If EVERY country album vanished from Spotify I would not shed one single tear.

Fat Freddy wrote:

I read in the today's paper that country artist Jason Aldean followed Taylor Swift's lead this week and yanked his latest album off of Spotify .... but his back catalog is still available there.

do they think people will be going out and buying the album?

exact33 wrote:

Fat Freddy wrote:

I read in the today's paper that country artist Jason Aldean followed Taylor Swift's lead this week and yanked his latest album off of Spotify .... but his back catalog is still available there.

do they think people will be going out and buying the album?

Taylor Swift is the first artist to go platinum this year so maybe they do think that way. I'd bet the new Foo Fighters will go platinum too.

I bet Taylor Swift's album would have gone platinum regardless of whether it was on Spotify or not.

The new Jason Aldean album is about to go Gold - if it hasn't already. It's also #1 on the charts. He's a gigantic Country star right now. Country is one of the few genres that has maintained strong physical album sales.

Also, Taylor Swift's newest album is not Country nor is it played on Country stations. It's purely a pop album and being marketed as such.

S.D. wrote:

I bet Taylor Swift's album would have gone platinum regardless of whether it was on Spotify or not.

my thought too. I dont think those who do Spotify will really be saying "gee. Its not on Spotify so I am going to go out and buy the album."

Witchfinder wrote:

The new Jason Aldean album is about to go Gold - if it hasn't already. It's also #1 on the charts. He's a gigantic Country star right now. Country is one of the few genres that has maintained strong physical album sales.

Also, Taylor Swift's newest album is not Country nor is it played on Country stations. It's purely a pop album and being marketed as such.

Taylor Swift was never country to begin with, though. (Yes, I'm aware, back when her first album was released, she was marketed towards a country audience. Even what I've heard from that album sounded closer to an Avril Lavigne album than anything country, though.)

Personally (and I know I'm jumping in on this thread a bit), my record collection has never been better. I buy at least 50 CDs a month, 2/3 records a week + a handful of tapes once a fortnight. Most of it being metal. UK houses aren't the biggest, so I might need to get a second house/storage unit to keep this lot.

Country probably maintains stronger physical sales because its main audience is the older generation with a traditional outlook. Older people use older technology. The equivalent to Country in Japan is Enka, a type of pop music with an ethnic Japanese sound. Again, it's largely popular with the older generation and one of the few genres still actively produced on cassette tape due to the generational/technology gap. That, and because people find it easier to practice certain parts for karaoke when they rewind/fast-forward the tape!

There are 2 million people still using AOL dial-up internet in America.  Most of them live in rural areas.  Country is popular in rural areas.  They aren't streaming with that connection speed, they are still buying CDs.

The town where I went to high school didn't get DSL until 2004, they didn't get cell phone service until 2009 and even now AT&T is the only provider in the area.

This is the demographic breakdown for country fans:

http://www.billboard.com/biz/articles/country/1177554/new-statistics-about-country-music-fans-revealed-at-billboard-country

48% of them are aged 18-44.  So pretty much everything people on this board have presumed about them is wrong.  Of course.

I have to laugh at most Metal fans that have no problem with hurling sweeping generalities at other music fans, yet whine about how Metal fans get no respect.  Something about people, rocks and glass houses comes to mind.

Quote :

Also, Taylor Swift's newest album is not Country nor is it played on Country stations. It's purely a pop album and being marketed as such.

Taylor Swift started ditching the "country" trappings from her music several albums ago, so that scene wants nothing to do with her now anyway.

Her newest album is merely the final straw in her break from the country genre. Not only did she go "pop," she done committed the ultimate sin for a supposed country artist - she done did moved to (*GASP*) NEW YORK CITY! And she's hangin' round with like RAPPERS 'n' stuff! There ain't nary a fiddle on her new record dawgone it!!

Pop fans are obviously still crazy over her, but the Country audience treats Taylor Swift the way old time Metallica fans treat anything post-And Justice For All.

Fat Freddy wrote:

Taylor Swift started ditching the "country" trappings from her music several albums ago, so that scene wants nothing to do with her now anyway.

Her newest album is merely the final straw in her break from the country genre. Not only did she go "pop," she done committed the ultimate sin for a supposed country artist - she done did moved to (*GASP*) NEW YORK CITY! And she's hangin' round with like RAPPERS 'n' stuff! There ain't nary a fiddle on her new record dawgone it!!

Pop fans are obviously still crazy over her, but the Country audience treats Taylor Swift the way old time Metallica fans treat anything post-And Justice For All.

Yep.

The wife was looking at ticket prices for her show at Heinz Field because she was going to take the 12 year old daughter to the show until she saw the prices. The worst seats go for $106!  So much for that idea.

When you think about it, country fans and metal fans have a lot in common - they're both insanely committed to their genre, and BOY do they hate it when one of "their" artists decides to experiment or shows any signs of "outside" influence.

Fat Freddy wrote:

When you think about it, country fans and metal fans have a lot in common - they're both insanely committed to their genre, and BOY do they hate it when one of "their" artists decides to experiment or shows any signs of "outside" influence.

You might be on to something here!

Witchfinder wrote:

This is the demographic breakdown for country fans:

http://www.billboard.com/biz/articles/country/1177554/new-statistics-about-country-music-fans-revealed-at-billboard-country

48% of them are aged 18-44.  So pretty much everything people on this board have presumed about them is wrong.  Of course.

I have to laugh at most Metal fans that have no problem with hurling sweeping generalities at other music fans, yet whine about how Metal fans get no respect.  Something about people, rocks and glass houses comes to mind.

I was talking more from personal experience about the rural area I grew up in, the technology available to them and also the type of music most commonly heard in that area. Add the rural area my Dad's family lives in and the music most commonly heard there and it's very close to the same thing. I wasn't speaking for every country fan in the US.

S.D. wrote:

Witchfinder wrote:

This is the demographic breakdown for country fans:

http://www.billboard.com/biz/articles/country/1177554/new-statistics-about-country-music-fans-revealed-at-billboard-country

48% of them are aged 18-44.  So pretty much everything people on this board have presumed about them is wrong.  Of course.

I have to laugh at most Metal fans that have no problem with hurling sweeping generalities at other music fans, yet whine about how Metal fans get no respect.  Something about people, rocks and glass houses comes to mind.

I was talking more from personal experience about the rural area I grew up in, the technology available to them and also the type of music most commonly heard in that area.  Add the rural area my Dad's family lives in and the music most commonly heard there and it's very close to the same thing.  I wasn't speaking for every country fan in the US.  

I wasn't really responding to you in particular SD. More a general statement about how some of us slam a genre with ignorant statements and yet complain of the same treatment.

Please note that I still think country music sucks.

I'm a little baffled by what qualifies as 'Older people use older technology'. I can only go on what I know. I understand that this is a general statement so can be fairly flexible, but I like to challenge things.

My dad likes some Country Music and has a large collection of virtual media/physical media he arranged all himself. He's 66 years old.

I have both virtual media/physical media (some country) and I'm 40.

Some kids where I live (10 to 16 say), who really like music, only have physical media. They are too poor for internet/MP3 players. Smart phones and Facebook accounts don't really interest them as their family struggle to put food on the table. They get donations of equipment and media.

Also, I run a little record label. The majority of people who buy their music from it (cassette tapes only for the better part), are under the age of 20 from the communication I've had. They just think it's a cool format.

I do think that 'doing what you know' also qualifies, but, it's not really a general rule.

So; what's cool, how much money you have and how old you are seem to mix up what format you have?

Just like everything else in society, the top 1% keep running off with all the f*cking money...

The top 1% of music artists collect 77% of all recorded music revenue.

http://factually.gizmodo.com/1-percent-of-recording-artists-earn-77-percent-of-recor-1660094049