“To the regret of music labels everywhere… fans are buying fewer and fewer full albums. In the shift from CDs to digital music, buyers can now pick the individual songs they like without having to pay upward of $10 for an album,” Jeff Leeds reports for The New York TImes.
Leeds reports, “Last year, digital singles outsold plastic CD’s for the first time. So far this year, sales of digital songs have risen 54 percent, to roughly 189 million units, according to data from Nielsen SoundScan. Digital album sales are rising at a slightly faster pace, but buyers of digital music are purchasing singles over albums by a margin of 19 to 1.”
“Because of this shift in listener preferences — a trend reflected everywhere from blogs posting select MP3s to reviews of singles in Rolling Stone — record labels are coming to grips with the loss of the album as their main product and chief moneymaker. In response, labels are re-examining everything from their marketing practices to their contracts. One result is that offers are cropping up for artists… to record only ring tones or a clutch of singles, according to talent managers and lawyers,” Leeds reports.
Leeds reports, “At the same time, the industry is straining to shore up the album as long as possible, in part by prodding listeners who buy one song to purchase the rest of a collection. Apple, in consultation with several labels, has been planning to offer iTunes users credit for songs they have already purchased if they then choose to buy the associated album in a certain period of time, according to people involved in the negotiations. (Under Apple’s current practice, customers who buy a song and then the related album effectively pay for the song twice).”
Leeds reports, “But some analysts say they doubt that such promotions can reverse the trend. ‘I think the album is going to die,’ said Aram Sinnreich, managing partner at Radar Research, a media consulting firm based in Los Angeles. ‘Consumers are listening to play lists,’ or mixes of single songs from an assortment of different artists. ‘Consumers who have had iPods since they were in the single digits are going to increasingly gravitate toward artists who embrace that.'”
“A decade ago, the music industry had all but stopped selling music in individual units. But now, four years after Apple introduced its iTunes service — selling singles for 99 cents apiece and full albums typically for $9.99 — individual songs account for roughly two-thirds of all music sales volume in the United States,” Leeds reports. “One of the biggest reasons for the shift, analysts say, is that consumers — empowered to cherry-pick — are forgoing album purchases after years of paying for complete CD’s with too few songs they like.”
Full article here.
Related articles:
WSJ: Music sales take sharp plunge – March 21, 2007
62% of music industry execs think eliminating DRM would increase music download sales – February 14, 2007
Disney film sales via Apple’s iTunes Store rise sharply; over 1.3 million sold in first three months – February 02, 2007
Apple’s iTunes Store passes two billion songs milestone; 50m TV shows & over 1.3m movies sold – January 09, 2007
Apple iTunes visits skyrocket 413% on Christmas Day – December 27, 2006
comScore: Apple iTunes sales are surging; revenue grew 84% during first 3 quarters of 2006 – December 14, 2006
Piper Jaffray: Apple iTunes Store sales show strong year-over-year growth – December 13, 2006
Warner’s Middlebronfman sees strong growth from iTunes Store sales – December 01, 2006
There is no difference between the current state of the music business and M$. Both are trying to hold on to a way of doing business when there are much nimbler rivals taking bigger and bigger chunks out of their collective butts, with no end in sight.
Generally, if I like an artist, I’ll buy the whole album just to have a complete picture of their works. But, keep in mind, I generally listen to talented artists, where their obscure works are worth listening to, rather than these new pop art kiddies who perform fluff. Jeez, the kids these days don’t even write their own songs, they buy them. You’d think they could buy catchy hits.
Anyone else slip the occasional n in?????
No, it’s when the occasional n slips out with a fart that I begin to worry
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@tkg: “You can’t collect them…” — I actually have a rather nice collection on my iPod and in iTunes.
“you can’t hold them in your hand…you can’t file them on a shelf….” — I don’t want to hold them in my hand or put them on a shelf. I want my hundreds of CDs worth of music with me where ever I go — on my iPod. So much easier to carry.
“you can’t look at the graphics….you can’t read the liner notes….” — Go here: iTMS: Dixie Chicks – Taking the Long Way and scroll to the bottom of the track list. See that last one that says “Digital Booklet – Taking the Long Way”? Guess you didn’t know about that, did you?
MW: Instead of just firing of a troll post, learn a little about iTunes first.
Why isn’t there a Greatest Farts collection? We know there’s a market.
Old Phart,
What’s next?
When I find Jimi Hendrix in the Easy Listening section that’s when I’ll know it’s time to check outta here.
Mike, who saw Jimi live.
Downloading mere music files?
You do not end up owning the album. You end up owning copies/files/imitations.
You can always resell your collection of LP’s or CD’s.
Try selling your collection of MP3’s.
It’s like, I own the original Mona Lisa, vs.
I own a picture of the Mona Lisa that I cut out from
Time magazine.
Or, better yet
I own a mint copy of The Beatles “butcher cover” album (value $7,000.00)
vs
I own a MP3 copy, complete with photocopy of cover (value 0 )
LOL
Listeners have more choices and so they choose what they like (which oddly enough is usually the easiest on their wallets, too). I find the comparisons between the ’50’s/60’s and today to be strikingly accurate.
The way it used to work was that a band would cut an single or two and get it played on local radio stations, start touring, and try to catch the attention of a major record label, which would push the single and then get them a deal to produce more singles, and then an album. (That Thing That You Do is pretty accurate, as is Walk the Line, and the last movie I saw about Loretta Lynn — at least in how the music industry worked at that time).
Now the internet (and iTunes) are the conduits, instead of a bunch of independent radio stations, but the means by which music reaches the audience is the same. People look for songs and then get interested in an artist, then their albums.