Record sales plunge further...

Truth. I think moving forward we will see more and more artists both major and small self release product directly online.

 

But it REALLY *sell* that many? They count streams and downloads as "purchases" these days...I'd be highly dubious that she sold 2 million physical copies, but then again I could be wrong.

 

Two million meaning the album - songs package. I used 'record' and 'album' interchangeably in this case.

That's as much as the Olivia Newton-John Physical album has sold in the US since 1981, so Swift is still doing a reasonable clip. Swift is generally viewed as among the very top sellers these days, however, so overall the field of sales is down (obviously).

If Swift waits another 3-4 years to release another album, it will be another indicator of where things head (if it's not even more obvious before then).

Maybe this will speed up the rate at which artists record and release albums? For fear of missing out on album sales altogether if they delay too much into the future(a future where albums sales are markedly poor?)?

 

I'm not going without a fight lol!

 

1 was a monster seller - second biggest seller of the decade behind Eminem. Just in time as the '00's were the last gasp of the physical product era

 

I think you're spot on with that. I've been frequenting this site for a few years that facilitates exactly that https://store.cdbaby.com/

 

What? How familiar are you with either of these bands? Teen frustration is a huge part of The Who's output from My Generation to Quadrophenia and while the band certainly covers other themes (eg However much I booze) it is still trading on those themes even now.

The Rolling Stones also full of teen themes, and still performing Satisfaction.



Tim

 

I think it really boils down to why many of us bought music in the first place. For me It was so I could listen to the music when I wanted. So I could read the lyrics. Examine the liner notes and check out the artwork. Today you do not have to buy anything to do all of the above. Prince and Harry Styles might both just call it a Sign O’ The Times.

 

I would argue that Satisfaction is a song about marketing, advertising & consumerism.

 

Sorry if my initial response was flippant. I didn't mean for it to be, I was just genuinely surprised. I'll concede on the Who, but I still disagree about the Stones. And I'd say the work that both Townshend and Jagger were writing at age 28 (Quadrophenia and Sticky Fingers, respectively) was definitely written from a different perspective than stuff like the petulant "This is Why We Can't Have Nice Things" from Taylor's latest. And I say all this as a fan of Taylor Swift.

 

Nothing about girl reaction then? Or was it girly action

Tim

 

Nothing in what I wrote was intended to be dismissive. We can talk about Swift on another thread through.

Tim

 

Gearing up to launch my reissue label this summer, stories like this always get me biting my fingernails. But I try to reassure myself that my age group still likes our physical product, even if we may use our phones as players at times. And with pressings of only 1000-1500, I'd like to think moving that many units over 3 years (even if they are obscure titles, the world is a big place) is not unrealistic. Cherry Red stated that they break even when they move 2000 copies, so they must be moving much more than that if they continue to expand.

 

Hopefully the whole 'musicians not making enough money' issue as described throughout the thread here is just nature's way of genetically selecting the hearty for survival and leaving the truly disposable to find a more suitable career.
I like new and old music but truly find myself despising most of the new I come across, not because it is new but more for the same reasons I disliked a lot of older stuff over time -because it's lame (to my ears) and not original at all...

 

^^^
This

 

I don't foresee a time when I'll stop wanting, and buying, physical product.

 

It's the lack of new artists that driving the fall off the cliff. U2 can't be expected to be big anymore. Taylor Swift's 2 million is pretty normal for a semi-disappointing followup to the smash hit. People waiting for Adele to release something might be sorely disappointed, as she's already had her decent performing followup. Next is the embarrassing drop off. Pop music killed itself about 20 years ago.

 

It's just, especially speaking as a family man, that there's something cool about the experience of going to malls, etc. You let your kids run around at the playground in such a place, you're outside for a bit, good stuff. I don't mind paying a little extra in such a case. Over at where we live the mall is getting emptier and emptier. Recently the local FYE closed it's doors at the mall. Bye-bye to checking out the bargain bins! Just sayin'...

 

No kids, so no malls...
Stand alone record stores for me.

 

id love to buy more records, but new records are really expensive, so i just buy the few i really really want. its the greed i dislike. reissued film soundtracks that have already made their money years ago in double vinyl packages for £40! no thanks. I'm not playing that game.
i don't blame the younger generations for not buying music. i wouldn't if was young and had a Spotify account, why pay for it, its there, already paid for and ready to listen to.
the only reason i had so many records was that i wanted to hear what they sounded like, or needed to own that version as i had no other way of listening to it. as soon as youtube and streaming was going, i stopped buying singles, and then less albums as i could now check them out before buying.
now if someone could do a Spotify for all films...

 

Cardi B is gonna save record sales in 2018.

 

He can't get no Gurley action--he was trying to get something published in Cosmopolitan.

 

Pretty sad state of affairs. What I see is a decline in media quality across the board. Everything, basically, is free or disposable. Social media? Low quality posts mostly crap. Netflix movies? Haven't seen a good one yet. Feature films? Reboots and sequels. News media? Freakin abysmal. Everyone goes to the sources that reinforces their narrow worldview and no one gets the straight truth. Literature? The popular stuff is self published and poorly edited. Etc etc etc

Im telling you we are losing the art of craft. Cheap art isn't good and good art isn't cheap. And I mean in terms of cost monetarily and time invested. Lame.

 

So a girl reaction can only refer to a teenager ?
BTW that is the only line in the song that could be considered that way.

 

My girls (7th & 9th grades) still adore Taylor Swift, she can do no wrong in their eyes.

As for music consumption, I came across some pristine copies of Katie Perry deluxe edition in a cheapie bin. When I texted one of my daughters to find out if they wanted one, she replied "not really, we don't really listen to CDs, we listen to music on our phones". Yet when it comes to vinyl, they are all over it. Vinyl represents a listening experience for them, something I instilled as they were growing up, that is not duplicated by a CD.