Music sales down for 2nd year in a row..-10% still blaming the internet

[Skyclad1uhm1]

Originally posted by: bleeb
where is tupac!??

Dead and buried.

The Internet is partially responsible for the sales, in a sense that a lot of the people here spend time on the net which, 10-20 years ago, would have otherwise been spent listening to radio and watching television programs. Behind your PC you can play whatever you want, and you don't get introduced to all the new crap.

But... also the quality and the amount of albums released last two years went down compared to the years before. I've got a CD store I used to visit almost every week, and I'd also buy something about 50% of the visits or more. Lately I visited it again after not having been there for almost 6 months and asked what nice albums had been released since then (they know what I like, usually I walk in and they immediately grab a bunch of CDs). With some searching around they got to 3 albums, one of which had been released that month and which was sold out (Opeth - Deliverance, Album of the Month in a metal magazine, bought it in another store next day). I've seen weeks in 1998 in which 5 or more albums were released which were worth buying.

And no, I'm not one for downloading all music instead. The music I like tends not to be mainstream, and from talking to the artists I know that it can be quite hard for smaller bands to make a living from it. The big labels don't want them (too low sales), and the small ones need every dollar they can get not to get gobbled up by the big ones.

 

[Barnaby W. Füi]

intellectual property is a joke, and i'm not going to rip myself off to make some rich people a little richer.

i *would* buy cd's once in a while, but i'm pretty broke most of the time, and have more important things to buy. the vast majority of what i listen to isnt sold by the RIAA anyways, so i wouldnt feel that bad even if i did rip myself for $15 or so.

 

[jteef]

when i was in highschool, every cd(2disc sets notwithstanding) at best buy was 8.99 or less. would somebody like to tell me where the extra 8 dollars they are charging today comes from? its gone up about a dollar / year since then.

I think the problem is them giving everybody who can rhyme or everybody who looks good naked a huge contract and losing their ass when each "artist" fails to sell the "projected" 10 million records.

jt

 

[Thegonagle]

Originally posted by: Soybomb
If I like an artist I'll buy their cd. If for no other reason its worth it for the quality. I can't stand poorly encoded mp3s.

Agreed.

I wonder if the general down turn of the economy could have something to do with it. You didn't hear merchants complaining that holiday sales were down because of the internet. "We'd have more sales if kids weren't pirating sweaters."

Again, right on point. If Victoria's Secret and The Gap's sales are down 15% in a year, you don't hear them complaining about piracy. You hear them scrambling to get new fashions out as soon as they can, because they missed the mark for what people want that year!!!

 

[idNut]

CDs are WAY overpriced. I finally got a CD at a reasonable price the other day for $11.99 at Borders. Permanent: Joy Division 1995 and it's probably one of the best CD's I've ever boughten.

 

[Zugzwang152]

The only CD I bought recently was Linkin Park's Hybrid Theory, an album from which I loved every last song. I think it's better for us the consumers to support bands/groups/singers by attending their live performances rather than buying overpriced CDs. The way the system is heading, album releases will just be a way of getting the music out, and concerts/tours will be the source of the real cash flow.

 

[Adul]

pay 17 bucks for a cd with onyla couple of good songs = me not interested in wasting my money. I rather build my DVD collection up

 

[GoodToGo]

I am the sorta guy who listens to the radio to for new songs. I dont listen to one only and keep flipping between them. Lately I havent heard anything that remotely interests me. Now-a-days new songs are just rehashes of old songs and are down right pathetic. I am now trying to get to know some older albums from some of my friends and the radio rather than buying new albums.

 

[Gunbuster]

"The nation's unemployment rate returned to an eight-year high of 6 percent in November and economists are braced for the jobless rate to hit 6.5 percent in the early part of 2003"


Hmmmmm Food, house/apartment, car payments or $17 plastic disc

 

[MaxDSP]

At last count, I had 25 DVDs, with more on the way, while the number of music CDs I have is just 1, which I bought 4+ years ago.

 

[nagger]

Blame all they want (RIAA, MPAA, etc) that I'll keep buying music CD's only bellow 10 Euros, it can take up to two years b4 I buy the albums I want, but at least I don't get ripped off.

 

[venk]

its the economy, stupid

 

[spaceman]

much like the late 80's music has reached a really low point :/

 

[Agent004]

My friend often say they don't buy album cd anymore because mostly it has like 1-2 tracks (out of so and so many) which they like and hated the rest.

Heck, Music industry has milked so much out of us a few years back and they are still on profit. 10% down? That's really nothing (in sense they are in profit) compare to those made losses

Yes, I agree because they are overpriced

 

[BurnItDwn]

I think i probably bought close to 50 cds last year ... They were all worth every penny.


edit:
I have never purchased a major pop release ever.

 

[Skyclad1uhm1]

Originally posted by: BurnItDwn
I think i probably bought close to 50 cds last year ... They were all worth every penny.


edit:
I have never purchased a major pop release ever.

And were they all releases from 2002?

 

[UNCjigga]

Originally posted by: Pacfanweb
I think it's mostly because the music generally sucks.

I too blame the record industry!

 

[brxndxn]

Perhaps if the entire general population got smarter and started releasing mp3s only in super high quality and named perfectly, then we could have more piracy and actually have an effect on music sales.

If we could dent them severely - by like 40%, then perhaps we could get across our message that we usually enjoy competition and five companies controlling an entire industry is terrible.

Piracy is good for competition.

 

[Triumph]

The RIAA is like an old, lumbering giant, too large and unwieldy to change to market trends, and too protective of its current assets. Does that matter to me? No, I don't care if you can't cope with a changing market. I buy my CD's used, which gives them ZERO money. Or I buy them online for 9-10 bucks, which I'm sure they're not happy about either. They AREN'T out to protect intellectual property. They don't care about their artists. They are only out to keep their pockets padded and their stomachs full. No more, no less. And if they would realize some way to capture the internet as a viable economic market for music distribution, they could increase profits. But no, here's where the large unwieldy lumbering giant comes in. Too big dumb and slow to adapt.

 

[royaldank]

Originally posted by: Agent004
My friend often say they don't buy album cd anymore because mostly it has like 1-2 tracks (out of so and so many) which they like and hated the rest.

Heck, Music industry has milked so much out of us a few years back and they are still on profit. 10% down? That's really nothing (in sense they are in profit) compare to those made losses

Yes, I agree because they are overpriced

I agree music is overpriced. Wont argue that. But to think the internet hasn't affected sales is ludicrous. Sure, it might be that now you download other tracks off releases and realize you don't like them. However, without the internet, you would have probably bought them for the 1 or 2 songs and then realized you didn't like the rest. That is advertising which is why much of radio exists today. I'm not siding with the music industry, mainly because it's them dragging their feet. They are behind the times and are fighting a loosing battle. But, I do find that many people scoff at the idea that the internet is killing the industry. It's true, though. It does hurt the industry, but only because they are reluctant to change.

There is plenty of good music to buy. I buy plenty of discs every year. If you can't find something you like, then you should probably start listening to a different type of music. Broaden your horizons. Don't go to FYE and limit yourself to their top 10 best sellers.

 

[Red Dawn]

The Industry releases 25% less titles and they only sell 10% less units? Sounds like they are coming out ahead to me.

 

[Adul]

Originally posted by: Red Dawn
The Industry releases 25% less titles and they only sell 10% less units? Sounds like they are coming out ahead to me.

sounds about right.

 

[acidvoodoo]

dam, i mean, 17 dollars is expensive, but paying that in pounds is even worse (17 pounds is about 27 dollars). There are some oldskool hip hop cds i really want, but i'm not spending 50 pounds (80 dollars) for 3 albums, i'd prefer to wait until i go to america again (these are imports btw, that's why they so over priced, but still...) to buy them

 

[bentwookie]

Originally posted by: TheEvil1

Originally posted by: psianime
The only CD I bought this year was Eminem. All of the other CDs didn't seem worth getting.

-psianime

and you say eminem was worth getting????

theres something seriously wrong with you

booooo! on that (c)rap act.

 

[dullard]

I was just reading an article and in the US people polled said they spend more on average for CDs than they did just 5 or 10 years ago. Basically if the internet was killing the music business, people on average would be spending less (not more). What happened was there was a boom in the economy that peaked in 2000. Well that means there have been two years of a worsened economy. Should we be surprized that sales were down slightly for the last 2 years?