Album Sales Continue to Plummet

On that note, I was in Best Buy today looking for the new Sanctuary (denied) and I noticed that once again they've condensed their cd section. It was already small to begin with, now it's just 2 rows. Rock and new release on one side, rap, country and various is on the other.

Another year or so and I'd say Best Buy will be out of the compact disc market completely.

I posted this in one of the AC/DC threads that discussed CD sales, but I guess it's more relevant to this thread:
http://www.craveonline.ca/music/articles/775917-wtf-not-a-single-album-has-gone-platinum-in-2014

Speaking of album sales, I noticed that the local FYE has a devoted area to new vinyl, probably for the first time in their existence. While it's not gonna save the music industry as a whole, they must see some financial advantage to start stocking vinyl in their stores.

I didn't look around too much, but prices seemed to range from $20 to $40 for albums. New releases and older classics.

When I've been in stores that sold vinyl, those were the prices for the majority of the albums.

Very few vinyl pressing plants still in existence (though more are being built) and they are running 24/7 and are constantly backlogged to keep up with demand. Thus they can charge whatever prices they want.

Vinyl sales exceeded 1 million in the UK this year, that's the first time a million LPs have been sold there since 1996.

On a side note - over 60 singles went platinum this year, another good indicator that music has returned to a singles market like it was in the early 1960s. People are still buying music, but less and less are interested in owning albums.

Assuming an average LP cost of $30 in 2014 dollars, vinyl is essentially the same price as it was back in 1983.  $30 in 2014 dollars would buy you about $12.55 in 1983 dollars.  So considering inflation, you are only paying about a $3-5 premium for vinyl today - Albums were about $8-10 back in 1983. Also bear in mind that most albums today are actually double albums due to the longer length of modern albums.  With that factored in, vinyl is probably cheaper now than it was during its heyday.  It's only expensive in comparison to MP3s and CDs which are only a third (or less) of the cost of vinyl.

Also, I have an old price sheet from a record distributor from 1988 and it shows several CDs of having prices of $18. Now, that's $18 in 1988 dollars - $18 in 1988 dollars = $36.22 in 2014 dollars!

S.D. wrote:

On a side note - over 60 singles went platinum this year, another good indicator that music has returned to a singles market like it was in the early 1960s.  People are still buying music, but less and less are interested in owning albums.

Japan still focuses a lot on singles. Usually they include the single, b-side, and the respective instrumentals. Some even include the single with two b-sides, or two singles and two b-sides as seen on maxi-single releases. I'm not sure if that could be marketable in the US, but their strategy is generally to make the single the radio-friendly, formulaic song, while the b-side is the more eclectic, adventurous one. A particular j-rock band that I listen to had a singles album and then an album of what we call "deep cuts" as selected by the members. Can you guess which one was better? For them, the single is just an excuse to promote the more alternative stuff featured as a b-side. Not sure if this has ever had as much of an effect in the west, but its an interesting trick.

Speaking of Japan, I thought this was interesting. Seems they prefer the physical cd over downloads...

Quote :

CD-Loving Japan Resists Move to Online Music

TOKYO —€” Around the world, the music business has shifted toward downloads and streaming. But in Japan, the compact disc is still king.

On a drizzly Sunday afternoon recently, Tower Records'€™ nine-level flagship store here was packed with customers like Kimiaki Koinuma. A 23-year-old engineer in a Dee Dee Ramone T-shirt, Mr. Koinuma said that, unlike most men his age around the world, he spends little time with digital services and prefers his music on disc.

€"I buy around three CDs a month,"€ he said, showing off a haul of six new albums, including the Rolling Stones€' classic "€œExile on Main St."€ and an assortment of the latest Japanese pop hits.
Japan may be one of the world'€™s perennial early adopters of new technologies, but its continuing attachment to the CD puts it sharply at odds with the rest of the global music industry. While CD sales are falling worldwide, including in Japan, they still account for about 85 percent of sales here, compared with as little as 20 percent in some countries, like Sweden, where online streaming is dominant.

"€œJapan is utterly, totally unique,"€ said Lucian Grainge, the chairman of the Universal Music Group, the world'€™s largest music conglomerate.

That uniqueness has the rest of the music business worried. Despite its robust CD market, sales in Japan — the world'€™s second-largest music market, after the United States —€” have been sliding for a decade, and last year they dropped 17 percent, dragging worldwide results down 3.9 percent.

Digital sales —€” rising in every other top market —€” are quickly eroding in Japan, going from almost $1 billion in 2009 to just $400 million last year, according to the Recording Industry Association of Japan.
Turning Japan around has become a priority for the global music business, which has struggled to regain its footing after losing about half its value since 2000, when digital technology began to disrupt the album-based business model.
But accomplishing change has been difficult, according to analysts and music executives in Japan and the West, in part because of a protectionist business climate in Japan that still views the digital business with suspicion.

Streaming music services like Spotify and Rdio, widely seen as the industry'€™s best new hope for new revenue, have stalled in efforts to enter Japan. Spotify, the biggest such player, has been stuck for two years in licensing negotiations with music companies in Japan, where homegrown pop idols by far outsell Western acts.

Even more surprising, Tower Records still exists!! In Japan anyway.

Quote :

Even more surprising, Tower Records still exists!! In Japan anyway.

And apparently its store in Tokyo has nine (!) levels. Imagine how long it would take to browse thru all nine. Hmmmm....scrounge-a-licious....(Books flight to Japan)....

The Japanese still love records, too! I went to two record stores today and at the first one(Esoteric) these two Japanese dudes laid down $80 apiece for some lps. I then went to Dimple and while I was browsing these two same guys come walking in and start hitting the racks. I wonder how many stores they hit today?

chewie wrote:

The Japanese still love records, too! I went to two record stores today and at the first one(Esoteric) these two Japanese dudes laid down $80 apiece for some lps. I then went to Dimple and while I was browsing these two same guys come walking in and start hitting the racks. I wonder how many stores they hit today?

As I understand it, things are super-expensive in Japan, so when they come over here, it's like shopping in Dollar Discounts.

MetalGuy71 wrote:

chewie wrote:

The Japanese still love records, too! I went to two record stores today and at the first one(Esoteric) these two Japanese dudes laid down $80 apiece for some lps. I then went to Dimple and while I was browsing these two same guys come walking in and start hitting the racks. I wonder how many stores they hit today?

As I understand it, things are super-expensive in Japan, so when they come over here, it's like shopping in Dollar Discounts.

I was talking to the owner of Esoteric about it and he said that they do not get as many foreign shoppers as they used to. He said that Germans liked to lay the money down for Lps as well.

How many singles even get a CD release nowadays?

Lari wrote:

How many singles even get a CD release nowadays?

Most single sales are downloads these days.  I have no idea about CD singles.

i totally see why cds continue to decline. I am almost through ripping the L's in my collection and it is really nice to be able to put a large amount of music on my phone.

What's funny is despite the fact that singles are allegedly the best sellers, there are more people who viewed the music videos of said tracks for free on YouTube than actually bought the song on iTunes, Rhapsody, etc. period. I mean stuff like Train's "Hey, Soul Sister" has over 65 million views but the actual legal sales of their CD and digital recordings combined was far, far less. Same with Pharrell's "Happy" and PSY's "Gangnam Style", which were some of the biggest hits in the last few years.

muckie wrote:

S.D. wrote:

On a side note - over 60 singles went platinum this year, another good indicator that music has returned to a singles market like it was in the early 1960s.  People are still buying music, but less and less are interested in owning albums.

Japan still focuses a lot on singles. Usually they include the single, b-side, and the respective instrumentals. Some even include the single with two b-sides, or two singles and two b-sides as seen on maxi-single releases. I'm not sure if that could be marketable in the US, but their strategy is generally to make the single the radio-friendly, formulaic song, while the b-side is the more eclectic, adventurous one. A particular j-rock band that I listen to had a singles album and then an album of what we call "deep cuts" as selected by the members. Can you guess which one was better? For them, the single is just an excuse to promote the more alternative stuff featured as a b-side. Not sure if this has ever had as much of an effect in the west, but its an interesting trick.

I see this as the prime reason that a lot of bands have seen their fortunes fade: value for money is just not a consideration anymore. I don't need foil-pressed goofy packages or anything like that, but it's nice... EXCEPT when it's used to compensate for the fact that the CONTENT is crap or totally skimped out on.

The Japanese can still sell singles because there's a TON of music on them. Remixes, instrumentals, etc. Over here? When was the last time we got some really interesting b-sides? Remixes? That stuff got chucked out of the window by the late 90s/early 00s before downloading became the beast it is now. You show customers disregard by overpricing your garbage and watch how quickly they treat your product with the same respect.

RE: The iPod Classic being discontinued.

CEO Tim Cook of Apple Inc said the reason was they couldn't get the parts for it any longer, some of the components are no longer made.  To continue selling it they would have had to completely redesign it from scratch and the potential sales weren't nearly enough to justify the engineering expense.

S.D. wrote:

3/4 of the way through 2014 and not a single album has sold 1 million copies.  

http://www.billboard.com/biz/articles/news/retail/6281506/soundscans-third-quarter-numbers-in-one-word-bleak

Streak broken. Billboard sez that Taylor Swift's "1989" is on track to sell over a million in its first week of release:

http://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/chart-beat/6304336/taylor-swift-1989-biggest-sales-week-since-2002

On a somewhat related note: Taylor Swift, who is now apparently the most powerful uber-bitch in the music biz, pulled all of her back catalog from Spotify this week.
http://www.theverge.com/2014/11/3/7149771/taylor-swift-removes-all-her-albums-from-spotify

Yeah, Swift hit a home run here. Most albums sold in a single week in 12 years.

The Spotify thing is a power play, in reality who Swift should be fighting is her record label, because that is who decided the artist split royalties.

Or she is counting on new fans buying her albums on iTunes.

S.D. wrote:

The Spotify thing is a power play, in reality who Swift should be fighting is her record label, because that is who decided the artist split royalties.  

Maybe it's her management that has a beef with the label? I'd question that it was her idea. She doesn't open a door with proper legal consultation and a team of PR people to advise and approve the action.

S.D. wrote:

RE: The iPod Classic being discontinued.

CEO Tim Cook of Apple Inc said the reason was they couldn't get the parts for it any longer, some of the components are no longer made.  To continue selling it they would have had to completely redesign it from scratch and the potential sales weren't nearly enough to justify the engineering expense.

This seems a little weird to me. Wasn't the iPod Apple engineered from the ground up to begin with? What the hell were the "generic" parts in it?

Like every electronics manufacturer the individual parts are made by separate companies (who bid to get the contract) and then they are assembled by Apple. Sometimes those individual manufacturers go out of business or discontinue a particular line, in this case finding another manufacturer was cost prohibitive when compared to the amount of potential sales.

Wouldn't have happened if we still manufactured things in 'Murica.