Record sales plunge further...

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by PhilBorder, Mar 13, 2018.

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  1. Kingsley Fats

    Kingsley Fats Forum Resident

    Malls where I live are generally fairly large & are controlled by a few large corporations & as such they have gone the same way a syndicated radio stations in that the mimic each other.
    So a shopping centre in the Southern suburbs will have the same corporate brand shops as those in the Northern suburbs. The same mimicing is carried on for shopping cntres in other states. Record shops moved out of these places years ago.
     
    troggy likes this.
  2. Kingsley Fats

    Kingsley Fats Forum Resident

    There is still good music, good books, good art, good movies - even good TV to be found if you are prepared to search. Sure there is plenty of dross. Always has been.
    The sky is not about to fall.
     
  3. Chemguy

    Chemguy Forum Resident

    Location:
    Western Canada
    They have the right to be fairly compensated, there is no doubt.

    No doubt about the current reality, either. They're going to have to tour to make the bucks.
     
    Nostaljack likes this.
  4. notesfrom

    notesfrom Forum Resident

    Location:
    NC USA
    Right now the record companies will go with whatever system means they still get paid. Their artists will still get shafted.
     
  5. DaleClark

    DaleClark Forum Resident

    Location:
    Columbus, Ohio
    Just my 2 cents. Albums in general are out with the young pop buying crowd. I think the industry is now more suited for singles or EP's. Then just tour on those releases. It's a different world. Attention spans are shorter. I even find myself having less attention span to sit and listen to an entire album (even classics). It's not Apple's fault, it's not the artists fault..It's really nobody's fault. The consumer dictates how things get done in the end. Period. Plus, there is so much music out there now...no filters like radio and record labels. A local band can have a large regional following, sell their own releases and call it a day.
    To reiterate, I'm talking the general pop buying crowd. Although things have changed as well in other genres, Gold and Platinum status is really not the driving force in other areas.

    Look at classic rock acts that have had their heyday many years ago. Many try to imitate their "golden period" and fall flat. Many try to sound young and modern....and fall flat. Many are just themselves......and fall flat. It's human nature, especially when big money makes life comfortable. It's a special person, who is quite comfortable, and can still dig deep inside and produce something authentic that appeals to the general masses.
     
  6. ubiknik

    ubiknik Forum Resident

    Location:
    Chicago, IL USA
    Considering what some new bands sound like they should pay me to listen to them.
     
  7. Arkay_East

    Arkay_East Forum Resident

    Location:
    ATX
    Sure sure. That's not what I'm saying at all. I search and find great music all the time. Probably more often than average for this forum.

    What I'm trying to say is that anyone can self publish anything on any media. There's basically no talent or skill requirements. And the rest is funded strictly for profit. There is very little apprenticeship or curation. The good stuff will always exist. Human art can't really die as long as there are humans. But the quality art is becoming increasingly buried. I can definitely say the same for media across the board.
     
    Last edited: Mar 14, 2018
  8. Sam

    Sam Senior Member

    Location:
    Rochester, NY
    It's a new day, but that's old news. My children, all in their 20s, haven't purchased a song for several years now from the iTunes store. We have the family Apple plan for streaming. They use it for all listening whereas I just use it for listening in the car or working out with headphones. Me, I still love and purchase vinyl, but while my children DO hear the tremendous sound improvements via my home stereo system, I doubt they will ever buy a home system unless it's combined with a good audio-visual system. And even then, they will still stream music to it. I am pretty sure they will NEVER buy any type of physical music playback equipment. Sadly, that's just the way it is. And young people today actually sitting down to enjoy a musical performance? Please, I would have better luck attempting to raise the dead. Maybe there are a few out there, but I haven't seen it within my children, their friends or my younger co-workers.
     
  9. Chris S.

    Chris S. Forum Resident

    Location:
    West Babylon, NY
    My 20-something kids stream. Everything. My son is in several bands and pretty much gives his music away on Bandcamp to generate interest for his live dates. Me? I buy. A lot. Like the rest of you I may stream to check a release out but those I like I own. It's just what I do, and have always done. Then again at almost 56 I am moving into dinosaur territory!
     
  10. Lorin

    Lorin Senior Member

    Location:
    Fl.
    Absolutely agree...there’s great stuff available in every genre along with a lot of mediocrities. I’ve embraced streaming technology via the PAID platforms and very rarely buy physical media any longer. After spending a good part of the last 50 years spending $$$$ on lps, tapes and cds it’s nice to to have that “monkey” off my back. But that’s just me
     
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  11. peopleareleaving

    peopleareleaving Forum Resident

    Location:
    California
    Turntable ----->

    My daughter's are 27 and 22. Neither of them or ANY of their friends buy records. They no longer buy music. Period. They all stream music via Spotify.

    Conversely, I purchase way too many records, CDs, files, etc......
     
    Last edited: Mar 14, 2018
    Fullbug likes this.
  12. seed_drill

    seed_drill Senior Member

    Location:
    Tryon, NC, USA
    More like $25 to $40.
     
  13. seed_drill

    seed_drill Senior Member

    Location:
    Tryon, NC, USA
    Not major, but "Weird Al" said the album model for parodies no longer works and that his future releases will all be singles.
     
    davers and sunspot42 like this.
  14. kwadguy

    kwadguy Senior Member

    Location:
    Cambridge, MA

    My daughter, also age 20, is the same. Despite my best efforts, I never got her hooked on physical media in any form. She did use and like an mp3 player at one time, but now everything is played through her phone or laptop.

    On the other hand, my niece, age 14, loves vinyl and has some interest in CDs.
     
    OptimisticGoat and Turntable like this.
  15. Stone Turntable

    Stone Turntable Independent Head

    Location:
    New Mexico USA
    Fangs plunge into flesh in shocking dog bites man story.
     
    Fullbug likes this.
  16. kwadguy

    kwadguy Senior Member

    Location:
    Cambridge, MA
    It's true that only a handful of artists get rich from physical media sales anymore. And that no one except the labels gets rich off streaming.

    But this is the beast that Napster has wrought. Once people decided that music should be free, the bottom fell out of channels where a non-superstar level artist might be able to sell enough product to net a good income. And the issue isn't that the labels didn't embrace Napster. The issue is that Napster codified in consumers' minds that music wasn't worth paying for.

    That genie is out of the bottle, and nothing will put it back in. The move to streaming just legitimized the idea that music is cheap or free.

    Anyone who was a champion of Napster at any time helped bring this on yourself. I have friends who are professional musicians, and some of them were on the "democratization of music and freedom from the labels" bandwagon when Napster was starting. Most now ruefully admit that all they did was hurt themselves. Life in the physical medium era was far better for all of them.
     
  17. aoxomoxoa

    aoxomoxoa I'm an ear sitting in the sky

    Location:
    USA
    I think I made more money selling CDs last year in the classifieds than U2 did universally
     
    Fullbug, zongo, DHamilton and 3 others like this.
  18. eflatminor

    eflatminor Forum Resident

    Location:
    Nevada
    Make better music.
     
    Lorin likes this.
  19. ElevatorSkyMovie

    ElevatorSkyMovie Senior Member

    Location:
    Oklahoma
    Yes, but they were in the .001% of artists who did. Most acts did not make any money.
     
    Kingsley Fats likes this.
  20. soundQman

    soundQman Senior Member

    Location:
    Arlington, VA, USA
    The Rolling Stones never started with teen themes. It was rhythm and blues. They and Bob Dylan always made music for adults or adult sensibilities for the most part. Maybe young adults at the beginning, but still...
     
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  21. Joey Self

    Joey Self Red Forman's Sensitivity Guru

    That is my experience with the teens/early 20's I've been around. My son LOVES music--gets into my car and plugs in his iPhone to play YouTube through the speakers. But he isn't going to spend any money on the hard copies of it.

    And frankly, I don't remember buying any new CDs last year except at a store that had everything marked down 75% as it was closing. I too use Spotify and YouTube for my listening needs.

    JcS
     
  22. Joey Self

    Joey Self Red Forman's Sensitivity Guru

    Well, it tells us the percentage of the fall from previous recent releases. I knew the numbers were down; I didn't know just how far down they were.

    JcS
     
  23. Terrapin Station

    Terrapin Station Master Guns

    Location:
    NYC Man/Joy-Z City
    Only teens are in love.
     
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  24. California Couple

    California Couple dislike us on facebook

    Location:
    Newport Beach


    Well U2's last 2 album covers made everybody barf :hurl: so that might be part of the problem.
     
  25. fretlessrich

    fretlessrich Forum Resident

    Location:
    New Jersey
    Stating the obvious, but we all care about music a lot more than the general population. For most people, it's just noise that you half-listen to while doing something else (driving, riding the subway, working out, sitting at your desk, cooking dinner, drinking at bar, watching the accompanying video on youtube, blah blah blah). Very few people are happy to sit and listen to music and do nothing else. Given this model, what is the "fair" compensation for the creators of this noise? This music is mostly designed to sell ad space and the performer is just part of the presentation -- their popularity seems like it's based more on image (and corporate backing) than anything else.

    At big concerts the performers are selling an "experience", which those in attendance can then document on social media -- and that's clearly worth something for a lot of people.

    In my music-buying lifetime, with a few notable exceptions, the only honest music that has been written and recorded was by independent musicians. That's still the case.

    Clearly the music business has been disrupted. One result -- it's started reissuing high-quality vinyl pressings from its golden age, in an effort to capture any revenue it can. This is a real upside, which is not mentioned in the story linked above. Though it doesn't seem like a sustainable model to me, I'm happy for the opportunity to buy the Beatles in pristine AAA mono, for example. Seemed unfathomable 15 years ago.
     
    Santo10, jonathan, WilliamWes and 5 others like this.
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