Global Music Sales Fell 7% in ’08 as CDs Lost Favor

International Herald Tribune ^ | 1/16/09 | Eric Pfanner

[Wolfstar]

And as I read on related threads that Hollywood is negotiating talent downward and that pro sports will soon follow, does anyone here think their cable bills will notice?

I'm sure our cable bills will still go up. However, if there is ANY segment of our economy that needs to see drastic deflation, it's the obscene amounts paid to Hollywood and sports talent.

[Larry Lucido]

Time to bail out Feist.

[RetiredArmy]

Roger that. I have not purchased a CD of new music since the 1990s. Nothing today appeals to me and I have been a rock and roll, pop, some country, etc. type since the 1960s. Since 1990s and forward, it has been junk. Any I buy are CDs to replace old albums I used to have.

[Wolfstar]

I remember when CD’s were first coming out the software companies warned the record labels that going digital was going to guarantee lost revenue because it was always going to be easy to copy and share.

And the music companies stupidly refused to update their business models to anticipate and plan for the digital revolution.

[Larry Lucido]

Obviously you haven’t heard Cloud Cult’s (uncredited) tribute to the Allman Brothers’ Midnight Rider. (I’m being sarcastic, of course).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6FrgjQHaaA

[dfwgator]

“It’s the music, stupid.”

[Wolfstar]

Today, we are back to the style of selling music like it was throughout most of the 1950's--music sales by individual song.

Exactly, except sales by individual song goes back to Tin Pan Alley days and the popularity of sheet music. The emphasis on selling only albums is a comparatively recent development.

[Brucifer]

Boy George?

I’ve seen pictures of it, and I still don’t know what it is.

[mamelukesabre]

Elton john on acid

[mamelukesabre]

It was all downhill after this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kr2jlCyCJBI

[SlapHappyPappy]

I have zero sympathy for the music labels.

[ResponseAbility]

LOL, the only way to be rick rolled...

[Some Fat Guy in L.A.]

OK, I did like a few songs by Nada Surf, a song by My Morning Jacket was mildly intriguing, and Blitzen Trapper’s “Furr” is a weirdly catchy folk ditty. But other than that..GONG!

The real problem here is that all of the good band names were used up by about 1985.

[Drew68]

Actually vinyl is making a comeback of sorts. Google “vinyl comeback.” I’m surprised at how many current artists have their albums available in vinyl on Amazon.

Those are niche markets available for collectors, audiophiles and "retro" interest. They'll sell enough vinyl to make producing these small batches profitable but LPs will never move the numbers needed to turn around the slump in the music business. Those days are over.

[ResponseAbility]

There is no way that good music will be contained to an advertising medium. There will probably remain a split in media, the cheap or free and the vinyl that will remain as the standard of quality. The best will continue to be represented by the best.

[RepublitarianRoger2]

I never said that vinyl sales would be enough to turn around the slump in music sales. All I said was that vinyl is “making a comeback of sorts.” Which it is.

[RayChuang88]

I think what made the album possible was the development of the LP in 1948, which allow 14 minutes per side on a 10" disc and 23 minutes per side on ad 12" disc. Essentially, the 12" LP won out, and that led to the 8-12 song album for popular music being the standard format by the early 1960's.

Today, with digital downloads, we're going back to the single-song sale format, unless people want longer play from a single release. We may see singles being longer than before, too.

[mamelukesabre]

I wonder if these “new vinyls” are actually recorded in anolog. I have a feeling they are recorded digitally and then converted to analog just for the vinyl versions.

Am I being to persnickety?

[2 Kool 2 Be 4-Gotten]

I can’t see recorded music making a comeback economically. It won’t go away altogether, but it will never be the cash cow for the record companies that it once was. In fact, I wonder if the whole notion of “record companies” is soon to become an antiquated one. To be sure there will always be music, but it will become increasingly an undifferentiated commodity.

[RepublitarianRoger2]

Good point, and you’re probably right. Probably kills the advantage of getting it in vinyl, if that’s the case.