"Rock Still America's Preffered Music-Rap/Hip-Hop is next..."

Interesting article about the RIAA demographic survey.
Pop music is at an all time low. Rock still is king but Rap and Hip Hop are on the way up. Country music made some gains.

Not a word on classical and jazz making those art forms almost non exsistant to most music buyers.

Dan C

http://www.msnbc.com/news/914458.asp?0cv=LB10


Rock still America’s preferred music

Rap/hip-hop comes next, replacing pop (now at all-time low)


HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

LOS ANGELES, May 16 — Rock music remains the most popular genre among U.S. consumers, while rap/hip-hop has replaced pop as the No. 2 choice, according to the Recording Industry Association of America, a music industry trade group. Rock, which has been the No. 1 most-preferred genre since the survey began in 1989, accounted for 25 percent of the market in 2002, up slightly from the previous year.

RAP/HIP-HOP increased to 14 percent, up more than 2 percentage points from the previous year. R&B/urban comes in as the third-most-preferred genre (11 percent). Country music’s popularity also saw a surge to 11 percent, up from 2001.
Pop music represented an all-time low of only 9 percent of the market, down from 12 percent in 2001. Religious music remains the sixth-most-listened-to genre, comprising 6.7 percent of music purchases.
Women buy slightly more music than men. The biggest music-purchasing demographic is age 45 and older, taking 26 percent of the market. Consumers between 15-19 years of age were the second-highest music-buying demographic, amounting to 13 percent of the market.

Non-music retail outlets such as mass merchandisers and electronics stores continue to grow as a preferred place to buy music, with half of those surveyed frequenting such stores. Only slightly more than a third of consumers bought music at record stores.
This marks the first year that more music purchases were made at non-music-only stores. Online music purchases increased very slightly to a little more than 3 percent of the market.
As for formats, full-length CDs account for 91 percent of all purchases. DVD audio purchases also were up slightly.
The RIAA’s annual demographic survey, conducted by Peter D. Hart Research Associates, polls more than 3,000 music consumers in the United States. The domestic sound recording market last year was valued at $12.6 billion, compared with $13.7 billion in 2001.

 

Interesting report

 

Rock N' Roll will last forever...

 

Rock & rap are here to stay. There's no way around it and no ignoring it. For over twenty years, people have been wishing it would go away and have been predicting it's demise as a mere fad that has overstayed it's welcome. WRONG!

As a lover of pop, though, it's sad to see it not popular these days. The seemingly unpopularity of jazz really disappoints me as well.

 

Steve, did you personally consider Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis, Jr., Don Ho, etc. "Rock" at the time?

 

I can't speak for Steve, obviously, but I'm pretty sure the Rat Pack -- or rather their bodyguards -- would have made short work of anyone who suggested they share the stage with any of that greasy kid stuff!

 

Personally, I'm amazed that women buy slightly more music than men!

 

Do you guys think rap will ever surpass rock music? I'm worried that it will, someday. Not that I dislike rap (I have scores of CDs), I can just relate more to rock music.

 

Yeah I think it's inevitable. Hip-hop is becoming a parody of itself, but it's not hurting record sales. I'm hoping that rock makes a comeback in the sales category.

 

Nah, Mike, as the "adults" said in the 1950's, "It's just a fad."

 

Actually, this has been true for several years now, particularly since movie soundtracks like "Titanic" appeared, built on the strength of the movie.

 

Nowadays, I try to find *something* to relate to in all music I listen to, be it rock, soul, country, whatever.

 

The majority of Rap "music" I hear nowadays makes the late 70's Disco era music sound like it was actually quite good (atleast some sense of melody there)

Back then though, they had a whole 'Disco Sucks' backlash, why not a "Rap Sux" backlash today???

The sad part is that all these teenagers into this Rap stuff- they just dont know what they're missing- they should be made to listen instead to truly classic music like Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On" (1971) and be inspired by music like THAT- not this lame rap-crap junk that surrounds us nowadays.

 

There's melody, style, power, in Rock...It -is- as they say SOLID...LIKE A ROCK!....A 1 second commercial break here at the forum...

 

Well, does anyone really think rock is rock anymore? It's not like it's this vaguely dangerous music parents warn their kids about (unless the artist goes out of their way to be shocking and deviant -- like Marilyn Manson -- only to reveal a pathetically small-minded commercial desperation).

Now rock's just the jingle for a car commercial, or the audio portion of another ****ty action film's cross-promotion. At this point I feel it's an exhausted genre.

 

Y'all are just getting old. All rebellious music eventually becomes mainstream, and the next generation comes up with something else that will upset their parents.

I'll bet within 10 years we'll see audiophile editions of Public Enemy and NWA. A Mo-Fi Eminem in 20. Tastes change. Get used to it!

 

Do you think the level of musical talent has dropped in modern "rock" music over the last decade or so? It seems so basic, to appeal to the non-musician crowd - which I guess I can understand. Maybe I am just getting old...

 

Y'know - I don't really follow the charts anymore, but it seems to me that it has been a long time since I've seen an album chart that was dominated by rock titles. I'm trying to understand how rock can be America's preferred music when the big sellers seem to be rap/hip hop and female vocalists. Seems to me that popular rock albums usually debut high but sink pretty rapidly.

Hmmmm - with the largest music buying demographic at 45 and older, I guess existing catalog sales are greater than new music sales, but the purchases are spread out over more titles. No wonder so many of us "oldies" think there is a dearth of new and exiting music. I guess the "kids" running the music industry can't properly come to grips with their target customers.

 

I'm your huckleberry...HIGHLY unlikely...I'll bet ya...Bad taste, Bad music, Bad poetry...there's no getting -used- to it... I don't like being forced fed...I'm a free thinker...That's why we have "Oldies" radio stations....

 

There's good rap, and bad rap. Good rock, and bad rock.

Get used to it!But, since oldies radio also stinks, IMO, I prefer my own compilations.

 

You betcha! We have had audiophile editions of grunge, so rap/hip-hop can't be far behind. See, the people who grew up on rap music are getting to the point of being able to afford higher end gear. As they age they will be more in power to exert their tastes onto the marketplace.

Face it baby-boomers, we no longer dictate what is popular!

 

I read a report last week that said rap was the most popular style today.

Can we all just agree that BOTH are equally popular and big sellers? OK?