Music album sales hit eight-year low in 2005

Jason Schofield · Posted 5 Jan 2006 12:53 am

U.S. music album sales last year slid to their lowest level since 1996, squelching any hopes that the recording industry's long downward spiral may have bottomed out, according to sales data issued on Wednesday...yada, yada, yada, boo hoo!
Gee, mabye it's because 99% of the so called music they "try" and shove down our throats is crap. I'm only 34 but I feel like an old man listening to most modern pop, r&b and country. I'm stuck in the 50s'60s'& 70s' when there was real quality and soul in the music. Nobody really cared what the artist looked like or if they could dance. Plus everything was new and being invented as the records were coming out. Now it's just all rehashed with more polish and makeup. Sorry to be so bitter. Funny how most kids get older and look to the past for some real music. I know I did growing up in the 80s'. The Beatles and Neil Young saved my soul. LOL .. any comments?

Kevin Ruddell · From: Toledo Ohio USA

Amen bro , the Beatles or Neil Young probably wouldn't get signed or played if they were starting out today . It's great that XM radio is offering a better alternative to the Clear channel mush . One new artist I think is particularly good is Neko Case and she will not sign with a major label, prefering to stick to a small independent one and touring to promote her music . She said she'd love to be on a major but why would anyone want to tour all year to pay back the money used to record her album and not wind up owning the masters

Hook Moore · From: South Charleston,West Virginia

Jason, your wise beyond your years

And I agree with ya.
Hook

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www.HookMoore.com

Mike Winter · From: Portland, OR

It seems that CD's are rapidly becoming a thing of the past. So many people are downloading mp3's for free. Downloading allows people to pick and choose specific songs, so they don't need to by the complete CD because it has songs they don't want. Not advocating, yea, nay or otherwise...just stating the truth. My wife got me a little mp3 player for my birthday...it'll hold 1 gig worth of music...and it fits in the palm of my hand. "The times, they are a changin'"

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Mike
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Blue Moon Highway
(Country Music...and then some.)
www.bluemoonhighway.com

Drew Howard · From: 48854

Jason,

Didn't notice you were a Michigander until now!

I agree that mp3's and downloads are cutting into CD sales, also my disposable income ain't what it used to be.

cheers,
Drew

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Drew Howard - website - Fessenden guitars, 70's Fender Twin, etc.

[This message was edited by Drew Howard on 05 January 2006 at 09:29 AM.]

Walter Stettner · From: Vienna, Austria

Major label industry is in a big, big dilemma!

The kids ain't buying CDs anymore, they have other more efficient ways to get the music from the net, friends etc. Whatever the industry doe against it, it doesn't work. They can close down trading websites, or protect the CD against copying - it just makes the kids laugh out loud!

On the other hand, today's major productions are musically so uninteresting (this is not one of the "back to the good old country sound" statements, I think it is valid for all musical styles, pop, rock, latin, country, folk etc.) that the older, often musically educated, listeners are not interested anymore and turn away to greener pastures.

It is just my observation, but I have noticed that a couple of major record stores in Vienna (Virgin Megastore to be the most prominent!) have closed down; on the other hand we have a lot of new, small record shops, often not bigger than a living room, dedicated to a certain music style, being quite successful with their niche business. I am often stopping by the "Rock Shop", dedicated only to early Rock 'N' Roll, Rockabilly and Roots Country, with the shop owner who is really an expert.

Maybe that is a little bit of an explanation!

Kind Regards, Walter

www.lloydgreentribute.com
www.austriansteelguitar.at.tf

Bunky Markert · From: Rehoboth Beach, DE, USA

I'm one of the dinosaurs that still buys CD's, basically because I want the bandwidth. I think you lose a lot of sonic detail with mp3s, plus I like the package - the case, the liner notes. etc.

But the larger issue is that pop music, which I believe we are talking about, which includes rock, pop, R&B, country, is treated as a disposable commodity. Does anyone really expect to be listening to a current Britney or a Kenny Chesney CD a year from now? This is another way of saying the product is crap, but it indicates that the record companies are more equipped to make money selling something disposable than something everlasting. Downloading and fileshareing is a better vehicle for that. If we had downloading years ago, there wouldn't be so many Herb Alpert records at yard sales.

Used to be, record companies had the same mentality that the movie industry had, which was to shoot for the blockbuster - The big Madonna record or the next Off The Wall, which ultimately subsidized entry-level artists. A lot of bands would get two record deals in hopes that one would take off. If the band didn't produce, then they were cut. Problem was, these bands were selected for their short-term potential, if they had a hit, or a look, or a weirdly androgenous frontman instead of their potential or promise. Their should be a AAA league for bands, for them to learn their craft (like how to play guitar with the neck at knee level). But from what I hear, craft isn't part of the equation anymore.

Anyway, I think the record industry dug its own grave. The good news is (I think) that with the likes of XM and the reach of the internet, self-produced, and indy produced acts have a better chance of finding their audience nowadays. If there is a hot new steel player around, this forum is going to know about it immediately. The problem is to get to a broader audience, and that takes education, and expanding curiosity and lengthening attention spans, and that's a whole other problem.

Walter Stettner · From: Vienna, Austria

With this musical "life on the fast lane" music industry is about to kill itself.

Usually, the musical overkill follows the same pattern:

1) Select a super star that appeals to as many people as possible. Musical talent is not a criteria, it is by far more important how you look, to appear in ads, scandals in public, private affairs etc.

2) Select the material for the potential next super mega hit that everybody around the planet has to hear. As for 1), the material (song, style) has to be as diffuse as possible - you want Americans to buy as well as Europeans etc.

3) PR - create public curiosity. The star has to appear in talk shows, quiz shows; the release of the new hit/album will be celebrated like a theatre drama. Nominations for gold, platinum, double platinum, triple platinum are common before the song/album is released.

4) The song tops the charts right away, now it is time to cash in. Make a tour (the tour is of course named after the song!), put out the CD, DVD, merchandise etc. Radio airplay adds to the overkill, you'll hear the song 25 times a day, so listeners will get tired after 10 days, make room for the next eternal hit.

Usually most major productions are CDs that are circled around one or two songs, nobody is interested about the rest - and then the industry wonders why the young, computer-skilled kids get that one song from the net, instead of spending $18 or 20 on a CD they don't really want and need?

Kind Regards, Walter

www.lloydgreentribute.com
www.austriansteelguitar.at.tf

Chris Lasher · From: Blacksburg, VA

I've been lurking but not posting. This thread just really motivated me, though.

I have to say, right on, Jason! The music that gets radio play is a total letdown today! I listened to the last two hours of a countdown of the Top 100 Biggest Pop/Rock/R&B hits of the year. I try to do that every year just to see if I've "missed" anything, since I don't listen to the radio. This year's countdown was particularly... well, let's just say I considered listening to it a zen excercise in tolerance for pain.

The music is terrible! It's so unwholesome! Not to point fingers, but read these lyrics (rated PG-13 these days) by the Black Eyed Peas:

quote:

What you gon’ do with all that junk?
All that junk inside that trunk?
I’ma get, get, get, get, you drunk,
Get you love drunk off my hump.
What u gon’ do with all that @$$?
All that @$$ inside them jeans?
I’m a make, make, make, make you scream
Make u scream, make you scream.
Cos of my hump, my hump, my hump, my hump.
My hump, my hump, my hump, my lovely lady lumps. (Check it out)

For all that is right and good in this world, can you believe that someone here probably has a child/grandchild who listens to this on a daily basis!? Bless their heart!

The only musicality I heard during two hours were a few extended chords (7ths and 9ths) on a track by Maroon 5, of course, in a repeated ii-V-I pattern. It was so disheartening as an amateur musician to hear synthesized drumbeats in place of melodies. And I could not believe Alicia Keys sampling the great Stevie Wonder's "Superstition" and then not even writing her song around it in the same key! It sounded awful! I love "Superstition"! How could she do that!? Nothing is sacred anymore!

Here are the CDs I bought in 2005:
Time Well Wasted, Brad Paisley
Real Fine Place To Start, Sara Evans
Timeless, Martina McBride
Incredible Jazz Guitar, Wes Montgomery*
Bright Size Life, Pat Metheny*
Live '77, Buddy Emmons*+
Emmons Guitar, Inc., Buddy Emmons*+
Minors Aloud, Lenny Breau & Buddy Emmons*+
Magic Of The Music, Joe Wright+
A Little R&R, Russ Hicks & Randy Beavers+
Resophonic Rodeo, Gary Morse+
Slideshow, Cindy Cashdollar+
Looking Back, Paul Franklin+

* Originally released over 20 years ago
+ Released on a non-major label

Look at that list and notice that only five of those CDs had money going towards a major label, and only three of those CDs were released this year.

Like Jason, I'm on the younger side of the spectrum here, almost 24. I get the joy of going backwards in time and still "discovering" great music, since, aside from indie stuff, there's nothing going on these days. I have a big collection of stuff from the '60s and '70s, and the more stuff I find in that era the better, but it must really suck for those of you who lived through those times; I can understand why you feel like it's all been downhill from there.

Things have got to get better.

[This message was edited by Chris Lasher on 07 January 2006 at 09:07 AM.]

Kevin Hatton · From: Buffalo, N.Y.

All the Media Play stores are shuting down in western N.Y. What does that tell you. Crap music. It had to happen.

Donny Hinson · From: Glen Burnie, Md. U.S.A.

Oh yeah, I feel just terrible that the big recording company execs are all trading in their Bimmers and M-B's for used Kias.

Right!

What money they lost in albums sales, they made up in ring-tones. That's right, dummies everywhere are spending 99 cents to get their phone to ring out 20 seconds of some goofy song when they get a call! These little snippits are raking in million$ (but they're keeping that part out of the newspapers). They're also "ignoring" the sales they're losing to indie (small-run) labels. Most everything I buy isn't a major label, but some small, "local produced" thing. Cheaper, better music, and no malicious software to screw up a computer. Plus...the people making the CD are actually getting a decent percentage of the selling price.

What a concept!!!

David Mason · From: Cambridge, MD, USA

If the trendulum ever swings back to old, fat and ugly, a whole lot of us steel players are gonna make a killing.

Donny Hinson · From: Glen Burnie, Md. U.S.A.

The jazz and blues worlds are full of "old, fat and ugly" players, and it doesn't seem to bother their audiences a bit!

Of course, their audiences are actually listening to the music!

I suppose that makes the difference.

Jack Francis · From: Queen Creek, Arizona, USA

Donny,, your right on.

It seems as though these are about the only genres that it doesn't matter if your getting on in years...you and your music are still respected.

A newer artist in this genre is only accepted for thier music not for what they look like.

Bill McCloskey · Posted 6 Jan 2006 6:35 am

I would add Bluegrass to the type of music that doesn't care how old you are. I saw Rickie Skaggs a while back and he was saying he only still has a career because he went back to his Bluegrass roots and left country.

That being said, these are also the toughest genres to earn a living at.

David Mason · From: Cambridge, MD, USA

There's an ongoing dustup in classical music because promoters have been going to places like Julliard School of Music and combing through the students looking for young, pretty, slinky girls (who would look good in a slinky cocktail dress) and grooming them for careers as soloists. Classical music performance in the 20th century was largely dominated by white, Jewish males coming from Eastern European cultures in which the children of musical families could often read and perform music before they could read and speak their own native language; music was often seen as their children's only hope of escape from deprivation.

Not so in the 21st century! Sultriness Rules, Dude. This could be barely be construed as a victory of sorts for feminism & antiestablishmentarianism, but the ability to look good in a cocktail dress is transforming third-string violinists into headliners. Hunky, operatic young male singers also seem to be of some utility these days, now that talent is no longer an issue.

P.S.(The old/fat/ugly/-honoring blues world is undergoing a full-frontal assault by the like of Joss Stone and John Mayer, in my opinion. Joss Stone seems hideous to me, like her blowzy style, her clothing, even her Botox'd lips were designed by a computer-assisted team of marketing consultants intent on marketing "da blooze" to "da morons"; John Mayer is even worse. He started as a one-man boy band with hits like "Your Body is a Wonderland" {wonder how much hot young nookie he got out of that one, hmmm?} but now he's repackaged himself as a "bluesman." He does love to play guitar - he can execute his bar-band SRV & Hendrix licks with assurance - but he still sings like a bizarre fruitcake amalgam of the worst of Dave Matthews & Tiny Tim. He's got those Lips of Doom, too. I... I... if... oh, never mind.)

Ray Minich · From: Bradford, Pa. Frozen Tundra

Chris LeDrew · From: Canada

What the companies are losing in CD sales they're gaining back in DVD sales. The concert/documentary DVD has replaced the CD as the main staple of record labels.

Brett Anderson · From: Arizona, USA

I am personally glad to hear that sales are down. And I hope they are losing money. It is a well deserved payback for the absolute brutal raping they have summarily perpetrated on most if not all artists. I also find it funny all the artists that are starting their own labels. The latest being Toby Keith. Like him or not he's got guts. Record labels take notice! The writing is on the wall. You better act now and reformulate your business. Great songs and great artists never go away. Its really not all about the advertising dollars. Long live the internet!!!

Brett Anderson · From: Arizona, USA

I worked at the Wherehouse records and tapes when I got out of high school. Funny they have closed most of their stores. Paul Franklin disputed my claim on a post earlier this year that record sales had declined for several years in a row now. How can anyone explain the closing of all these music stores. Bottom line I buy music that is geared toward adults. I am an adult. I have more money to spend than teenagers. I don't buy Kenny Chesney records or anything else that is recorded for people that haven't experienced much life yet.

b0b · From: Cloverdale, CA, USA

The "music industry" doesn't count sales from most of the titles in the Forum store. It's small potatoes to them, but I bet that sales of steel guitar instrumental CDs were up in 2005. Could this be the beginning of a trend?

Jason Odd · From: Stawell, Victoria, Australia

If sales alone represented the charts (like here and most places) then you'd see a more realistic chart, different airplay and potentially a little less generic doubling on product.

Might change sales a bit.

Mike Perlowin · From: Los Angeles CA

Pete Anderson (Dwight Yoakham's former lead guitarist and producer) lives near me, and while we aren't close, we do know each other casually, and occasionally run into each other.

Pete told me that every time he and Dwight went into the studio, some guy from the accounting department would come down with charts showing that records with fuzz guitars or disco drumms or some other element that was totally incompatable with their music were selling well, and therefore they wanted Pete to include those elements in their recording.

Pete told me he tied to explain that he and Dwight were trying to make records with musical integrety, but they guys just didn't get it. All they undertstood was unit sales.

The only thing Pete could say that would convince the suits to leave them alone was that altering their sound might backfire and they might alienate their fan base and sales might decline.

The music business is about business, not music.

Donny Hinson · From: Glen Burnie, Md. U.S.A.

Steinar Gregertsen · From: Arendal, Norway, R.I.P.

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