CDs and Vinyl outselling digital downloads

Um...I KNOW how to do it, done it many times. But thanks for proving my point that it is a PITA and very, very time consuming, which is exactly what I said, lol
*drops mic*

 

I'd be dead about 1/10 into my collection. I have other things to do in life...like LIVE!

 

That's all fine and good, but now you're talking about combined CD and LP sales. Plus, if you look at that same report, LP sales have not made up for the CD losses either...it was close but didn't quite make it.

CD sales themselves have dropped in 2017, in the US. Not risen.

 

I would think that if someone was in such dire straits that they couldn't pay $10 a month to stream music, then listening to music is probably going to be the least of their troubles.

 

I rip vinyl as well, to digital files.

The PITA part isn't the listening afterwards, it's the recording and tagging process. The easy part is once it's done - and there's no "turning on a computer", you can just use your DAP or smartphone that's just in sleep mode. It's certainly easier than looking for the CD or vinyl...especially when I'm not at home.

 

According to RIAA, that's true.
What RIAA does not take into account
are used CD and LP sales, and those
outside of the U.S.. Discogs and independent
global research of indy
and specialty record sales narrow the
gap considerably. My earlier post,
I was talking about combined CD&LP
sales together have risen in 2017 over
2016 figures.

 

All the more reason someone on an air-
tight monthly budget would be thankful
to at least have their own album
collection to find some occasional
respite from their situation.

Ever since WWII, recorded music has
served a very important cultural purpose.
The record album has provided
affordable and lasting home
entertainment to people everywhere,
regardless of class or economic status.
The intrinsic value and importance of
this should not be underestimated.

 

Well said. My dad’s 78 rpm collection helped them enjoy time off between shifts (both my parents worked already back then in the early 50s). That and the occasional Brooklyn Dodger game at Ebbet’s field. He passed that love of recorded music on to me.

 

Isn't streaming just the new FM?

My best guess is there will always be physical media.

 

Mine too - provided enough people
continue buying it so that it remains
a viable model for the industry. I tend
to be a bit jaded when it comes to my
view of the corporate colossus. CDs
are a great invention for the music
lover, those who cherish privately
owned archives as part of one's personal
estate, those who are particular about
the sound recordings they are fond of,
as well as for the socio-cultural aspects
of the art form. On the other hand, from
a pecuniary standpoint, the CD may be
viewed by *some* as an undesirable
model -basically, the consumer buys
them once, and under ideal conditions
they will last a lifetime and then some.
There is, conceivably, an incentive to
continue taking consumer's money on
steady basis without ever providing
them ownership of any physical product.

 

Used sales have no royalties involved, completely different discussion.

 

correct. It is tangential, nevertheless
related in terms of consumerism and
future model of the industry.

 

I purchase my music, keep in mind - not disagreeing with the sentiment here.

But it's because I have an entertainment budget that I am able to purchase that music. If I lost my job long-term and had to feed my family, that would go right out the window. And, if that situation worsened I would probably be forced to sell off my collection as well.

 

That's my point - the industry itself doesn't care about used sales as they do not profit by that. And neither do artists.

If anything else, the industry would love to see first sale doctrine be eradicated.

 

very astute conjecture. Still it can
be argued that while the artist does
not profit from used sales monetarily,
the dissemination of their work has
benefit in the same way free-radio
airplay does apart from licensing.

*edit:
your point also highlights one of
the main reasons I almost never
buy used CDs and LPs - the exception
being lack of availability elsewhere.

 

Agreed. In some ways it's similar to radio or streaming in that it could advertise the artist to a new audience. Blind buy cheap CD's is something I still do on occasion, for example.

I actually buy them fairly often - it's just a question of budgeting in my case.

But going back to the streaming discussion, I'll also make it a point to stream those same albums a number of times. Because if that generates a few pennies for the artist it's better than nothing at all.

 

Not according to that article as physical media sales overall dropped 4%.

 

He's half right. CDs dropped, but LP sales did go up. But yeah - the drop in CD was bigger than the rise in LP, so combined there was a net drop.

 

That's not how I interpreted the data,
but I could have mistakenly taken a cue
from some other research and got mixed
up. I'll go have another look as I
downloaded the PDF - so apologies if
I did get that wrong. Thanks for posting,
@mwheelerk and @Thievius

 

It's essentially FM with a license fee and curation over what is listened to (think of it like listener requests that are actually listened to).

 

When you have to tighten your belt, you make little savings from lots of items, one of which may be your streaming service.

 

I think that is fantastic solution for people who have a LOT of music that they want to acquire rapidly. A no brainer really.

 

Apple Music's Jimmy Iovine says streaming services are 'too similar'

"The streaming services are all charging $9.99 and everyone has the same music," he told the BBC.

"And it's really nice. You get whatever song you want, you get your playlists - but there's got to be more interaction between the artist and the audience.

"Sooner or later, something's got to give," he said, indicating that Apple Music wanted more original content.

"Netflix [is] spending $6bn (£4.2bn) a year on original content," said Iovine. "They have a unique catalogue and they charge you $10.99."

On streaming sites, however, "the labels want you to have the same music".

He said: "So there's a real rub there. Sooner or later something's going to give."

'Streaming services are too similar'

 

You probably don't own the right gear to listen to digital music.

 

With few exceptions, most chart sellers are new releases or new reissues, so I doubt used sales will have a big impact. Also, it highly likely the new indy and specialty record label sales were higher in the past than they are today, so previous sales figures were underreported. There's no doubt sales have fallen. The US record industry is severely cutting back on CD pressing plants (they may be none left in the US), and it will probably have a huge impact on back catalog titles. Many titles are likely to go OOP on CD, probably vinyl too considering the backlog at vinyl plants.