Towelie Posted May 20, 2014 Share Posted May 20, 2014 Last week Lily Allen reached number 1 in the UK album chart selling 30,012 copies. Ten years ago you would just about scrape the top ten with those figures.Last week the only albums to sell over 10,000 copies were the top 6, meaning you could have a top 10 record selling just about 7k or 8k.Last week Tori Amos reached number 13 in the UK album chart with her album, selling a total of 4,614.I knew record sales had plummeted in recent years, but am I the only one who finds these sales figues a bit shocking? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Len B'stard Posted May 20, 2014 Share Posted May 20, 2014 Im glad personally. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardNixon Posted May 20, 2014 Share Posted May 20, 2014 A lot of people just buy the hit singles and that's it.I'm willing to bet that 75 percent of Beyonce and Katy Perry fans buy the 3-4 hit singles and that's it. Rock and Roll is a dying genre. How many well known, quality bands release albums that people listen to, front to back?Can you name any album from a rock band that was formed in the 2000s+ that will be remembered as a timeless classic, in the same light as Abby Road, Who's Next, Paranoid, Nevermind, etc? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coma16 Posted May 20, 2014 Share Posted May 20, 2014 Who is Lily Allen??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Towelie Posted May 20, 2014 Author Share Posted May 20, 2014 Im glad personally.Im glad personally.As a music fan, does this not concern you somewhat? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Len B'stard Posted May 20, 2014 Share Posted May 20, 2014 No, i think music'll find a way to be heard always and the struture of the music industry had been digressive and hurtful to artists for so long that its about time we evolved out of that and into a new way, which i think has kinda happened already, to a great degree.At very least its forced the industry to take a look at itself. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maynard Posted May 20, 2014 Share Posted May 20, 2014 I'm schocked that so many people still buy albums. Vinyl/deluxe editions is the way to go to "real" bands and musicians. Who the fuck will buy a lousy compact disc in plastic cover and a small booklet? CDs are a stupid format. Pop artists will keep selling singles online. And that's reality. Good music will never die. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coma16 Posted May 20, 2014 Share Posted May 20, 2014 I'm schocked that so many people still buy albums. Vinyl/deluxe editions is the way to go to "real" bands and musicians. Who the fuck will buy a lousy compact disc in plastic cover and a small booklet? CDs are a stupid format. Pop artists will keep selling singles online. And that's reality. Good music will never die.I agree with much of this. However, the compact disk was great compared to cassette tapes and lived strong for quite a while. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crash Diet Posted May 20, 2014 Share Posted May 20, 2014 Last week Lily Allen reached number 1 in the UK album chart selling 30,012 copies. Ten years ago you would just about scrape the top ten with those figures.Last week the only albums to sell over 10,000 copies were the top 6, meaning you could have a top 10 record selling just about 7k or 8k.Last week Tori Amos reached number 13 in the UK album chart with her album, selling a total of 4,614.I knew record sales had plummeted in recent years, but am I the only one who finds these sales figues a bit shocking? Sooner or later literally NOBODY buys records anymoreMaybe 300 copies enough to reach the TOP 10, lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dalsh327 Posted May 20, 2014 Share Posted May 20, 2014 If artists want to sell CDs, they need to go to the stores and promote them. When someone sells books, they go on a book tour. Concerts aren't enough anymore. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zeppelin Posted May 20, 2014 Share Posted May 20, 2014 I'm schocked that so many people still buy albums. Vinyl/deluxe editions is the way to go to "real" bands and musicians. Who the fuck will buy a lousy compact disc in plastic cover and a small booklet? CDs are a stupid format. Pop artists will keep selling singles online. And that's reality. Good music will never die.Pretty narrow-minded point of view, considering records are still a pretty small market. People buy CDs because they're affordable. I sure as hell am not going to buy $40 and $50 vinyl packages because they offer some nostalgic listening experience. Even if you think vinyl sounds better, it's just not affordable. And no, used record stores are not always around.This whole thread is about people buying music, but you think people will spend 3-4 times the money on vinyl rather than buy CDs just because the artwork is bigger? Not really a solid alternative for a niche market. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Broskirose Posted May 20, 2014 Share Posted May 20, 2014 No rasp = no sales 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maynard Posted May 20, 2014 Share Posted May 20, 2014 I'm schocked that so many people still buy albums. Vinyl/deluxe editions is the way to go to "real" bands and musicians. Who the fuck will buy a lousy compact disc in plastic cover and a small booklet? CDs are a stupid format. Pop artists will keep selling singles online. And that's reality. Good music will never die.Pretty narrow-minded point of view, considering records are still a pretty small market. People buy CDs because they're affordable. I sure as hell am not going to buy $40 and $50 vinyl packages because they offer some nostalgic listening experience. Even if you think vinyl sounds better, it's just not affordable. And no, used record stores are not always around.This whole thread is about people buying music, but you think people will spend 3-4 times the money on vinyl rather than buy CDs just because the artwork is bigger? Not really a solid alternative for a niche market.What I meant is, people will either buy deluxe editions (specially vinyl) or just download files. CDs are useless, they have no value for diehard fans and are expensive for casual listeners who can easily download their favorite songs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zeppelin Posted May 20, 2014 Share Posted May 20, 2014 I'm schocked that so many people still buy albums. Vinyl/deluxe editions is the way to go to "real" bands and musicians. Who the fuck will buy a lousy compact disc in plastic cover and a small booklet? CDs are a stupid format. Pop artists will keep selling singles online. And that's reality. Good music will never die.Pretty narrow-minded point of view, considering records are still a pretty small market. People buy CDs because they're affordable. I sure as hell am not going to buy $40 and $50 vinyl packages because they offer some nostalgic listening experience. Even if you think vinyl sounds better, it's just not affordable. And no, used record stores are not always around.This whole thread is about people buying music, but you think people will spend 3-4 times the money on vinyl rather than buy CDs just because the artwork is bigger? Not really a solid alternative for a niche market.What I meant is, people will either buy deluxe editions (specially vinyl) or just download files. CDs are useless, they have no value for diehard fans and are expensive for casual listeners who can easily download their favorite songs.Ah okay. So you think the problem is there's no real middle-ground then? I can see that being the case. Even diehard fans can't keep the industry afloat these days, I'm afraid. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anguyen92 Posted May 20, 2014 Share Posted May 20, 2014 (edited) If artists want to sell CDs, they need to go to the stores and promote them. When someone sells books, they go on a book tour. Concerts aren't enough anymore. Do people still buy books where the author's latest offerings sold high six-figure- low seven figure copies? Edited May 20, 2014 by Anguyen92 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dalsh327 Posted May 20, 2014 Share Posted May 20, 2014 If artists want to sell CDs, they need to go to the stores and promote them. When someone sells books, they go on a book tour. Concerts aren't enough anymore. Do people still buy books where the author's latest offerings sold high six-figure- low seven figure copies?http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2012/03/30/james-patterson-explains-his-why-his-books-sell-like-crazy/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bacardimayne Posted May 20, 2014 Share Posted May 20, 2014 When Axl puts out CD2, the entire world will stop what they're doing, burst into spontaneous choreographed dance, and dance to the nearest record store to purchase the album. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chevelle Posted May 21, 2014 Share Posted May 21, 2014 I don't know if I've just fell out of touch this year, but it seems like there hasn't been nearly as many 'big' releases this year compared to last, which could definitely skew the data towards the low end. Could be wrong though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ace Nova Posted May 21, 2014 Share Posted May 21, 2014 Do those numbers include digital downloads or are they just the physical copies? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OmarBradley Posted May 21, 2014 Share Posted May 21, 2014 Do those numbers include digital downloads or are they just the physical copies?Good question, QFE. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uncivil war Posted May 21, 2014 Share Posted May 21, 2014 While I mainly stream (legally) most music I listen to, I still like going to music stores and poring through albums to find something I want. I definitely don't do it as much as I used to, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dalsh327 Posted May 21, 2014 Share Posted May 21, 2014 Do those numbers include digital downloads or are they just the physical copies?It sounds like physical copies, so basically the hardcore fans who want to have a physical copy on hand. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iron MikeyJ Posted May 21, 2014 Share Posted May 21, 2014 I agree that people just want the "hit singles" and downloading them is the best for this method. Mp3's are just so versitile, you can put them on your phone, computer, mp3 player, and even a cd if you want. It is the age we live in, and it's not going to change anytime soon. But I do think there is a (smaller) market for full albums, either cd or vinyl. Maybe the trick is to only release certain songs for download, while other songs will only be available by getting the actual album. Obviously the illeagal market will still be going strong. Which imo it is what it is. But the legit downloads, artists do have more control over those. But like what we have discussed in different threads, if you know that a lot of people in (say) China for example are illeagally downloading your music, then playing concerts in China will probably be a good idea. That will help get money from those that didnt pay for the music. But the bottom line is artists have to make money off of merchandise and concerts in order to really survive in todays market. The days of making millions off of record sales are pretty much done. But if artists make worthy albums, where every song is good, or at least strong, I do think people would buy the album. But that would mean artists would have to try harder in order to produce something of quality. No more rushing just to get something out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardNixon Posted May 21, 2014 Share Posted May 21, 2014 (edited) I'm schocked that so many people still buy albums. Vinyl/deluxe editions is the way to go to "real" bands and musicians. Who the fuck will buy a lousy compact disc in plastic cover and a small booklet? CDs are a stupid format. Pop artists will keep selling singles online. And that's reality. Good music will never die.I like CDs because they are far more convenient than records, which, although cool, take up a lot more space, are far more fragile, and unlike CDs, cannot be put into itunes for my ipod. The idea that you need a record to experience a "real" band is just silly. I'm schocked that so many people still buy albums. Vinyl/deluxe editions is the way to go to "real" bands and musicians. Who the fuck will buy a lousy compact disc in plastic cover and a small booklet? CDs are a stupid format. Pop artists will keep selling singles online. And that's reality. Good music will never die.I agree with much of this. However, the compact disk was great compared to cassette tapes and lived strong for quite a while. And they're still around and sell more than records. Edited May 21, 2014 by RichardNixon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardNixon Posted May 21, 2014 Share Posted May 21, 2014 I'm schocked that so many people still buy albums. Vinyl/deluxe editions is the way to go to "real" bands and musicians. Who the fuck will buy a lousy compact disc in plastic cover and a small booklet? CDs are a stupid format. Pop artists will keep selling singles online. And that's reality. Good music will never die.Pretty narrow-minded point of view, considering records are still a pretty small market. People buy CDs because they're affordable. I sure as hell am not going to buy $40 and $50 vinyl packages because they offer some nostalgic listening experience. Even if you think vinyl sounds better, it's just not affordable. And no, used record stores are not always around.This whole thread is about people buying music, but you think people will spend 3-4 times the money on vinyl rather than buy CDs just because the artwork is bigger? Not really a solid alternative for a niche market.What I meant is, people will either buy deluxe editions (specially vinyl) or just download files. CDs are useless, they have no value for diehard fans and are expensive for casual listeners who can easily download their favorite songs.Of course CDs have value for fans. When I buy an album, I want a physical product, I don't want a purely digital collection, therefore I buy CDs. I like CDs because, as I've said before (1) they are more durable than records (2) they are less expensive than records, (3) they are easier to store and (4) I can upload them on to itunes and put them on my ipod. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.