U.S Music Album sales down 7%

[VanCitySportsGuy]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051229/ap_en_mu/music_sales

Everytime I go to FS and BB the CD section rarely has anybody that looks 25 and under looking around.

I know most of my friends have really cut down on purchasing CD's the past 6 years.

I wonder how much money Apple has made off the iTunes store.

[Ephexx]

Re: U.S Music Album sales down 7%

This is definitely caused by the mass downloading of songs illegally instead of the lack of quality music being created recently.[/sarcasm]

[Fresh Tendrils]

Re: U.S Music Album sales down 7%

This is definitely caused by the mass downloading of songs illegally instead of the lack of quality music being created recently.[/sarcasm]

Or people aren't willing to actively look for good music. [/rant]

[BatsareBugs]

Re: U.S Music Album sales down 7%

Or maybe CD's cost more than they should be priced at. I don't quality or not. Some of the prices on CDs are absurd for how much it cost to make one. I will not spend $20 dollars on a CD. No.

Not to mention the RIAA is on my bad side...

[Fresh Tendrils]

Re: U.S Music Album sales down 7%

Where do you shop for CDs at?

[bgeno]

Re: U.S Music Album sales down 7%

Or people aren't willing to actively look for good music. [/rant]

Ya, but the fact that it takes effort to find good music is a little BS.

The fact that I have to stumble into good artists almost on accident, rather than hearing them on the radio just doesn't seem right.


And I know illegal downloading has most to do with it.

[Fresh Tendrils]

Re: U.S Music Album sales down 7%

If you know where to look, finding good music isn't that hard.

[The C]

Re: U.S Music Album sales down 7%

Shiver me timbers.



Although I have noticed I've cut donw on cd purchases on account of I find instead of 2 cds I could get a reused video game.

[CM1847]

Re: U.S Music Album sales down 7%

Where do you shop for CDs at?

Exactly, $20 for a CD? Maybe in 1992, but today the highest priced single CDs are $15 if you are at a decent store. Heck, go online to a record company/band website and you can usually get any of their CDs for $12, shipping included.

It is a combination, the popular music landscape right now SUCKS, and there are no Backstreet Boys, N*Sync or Britney's to boost the sales by selling millions of copies to 14 year old girls. There is no big 'in' thing in rock right now, all of the bands sound the same on the radio. And of course it is the online music scene. Either illegally or legally, it is defintely taking a large chunck of the record sales. How many people just asked for iTunes gift cards for the holidays this year instead of asking for a few CDs?

The online and crappy music thing ties together. Too many bands now don't make good albums, they make a couple of good songs and a bunch of average songs and throw them on a CD. Why would I want to buy the whole album if I only want one song? Now I can legally go online and buy that one song, I just saved myself $10.

Solution: there isn't one. More and more bands will look to independently release their music(see Pearl Jam, Radiohead & DMB) and record companies will start to lose their grip on the music scene. They have been steadily buying off all the radio stations in teh country for the past 10 years, now they are quickly losing their grip on those with XM/Sirius and internet radio. The stupid anti-piracy software that prevents you from taking your own store-bought CDs and putting them on your store-bought MP3 player was a horrible decision too. If the record companys want to keep up, they need to embrace the digital music scene, not try to shut it down.

/rant

[Fresh Tendrils]

Re: U.S Music Album sales down 7%

Exactly, $20 for a CD? Maybe in 1992, but today the highest priced single CDs are $15 if you are at a decent store. Heck, go online to a record company/band website and you can usually get any of their CDs for $12, shipping included.

Indeed. Hell, you can even get brand new CDs for like 7-9 bucks from Amazon or Gemm.com You have to know where to look. Anybody who shops at Sam Goody, FYE, etc is a complete moron.

It is a combination, the popular music landscape right now SUCKS, and there are no Backstreet Boys, N*Sync or Britney's to boost the sales by selling millions of copies to 14 year old girls. There is no big 'in' thing in rock right now, all of the bands sound the same on the radio. And of course it is the online music scene. Either illegally or legally, it is defintely taking a large chunck of the record sales. How many people just asked for iTunes gift cards for the holidays this year instead of asking for a few CDs?

I agree. There is no "superstar" in the music scene, and I'm actually a little mystified by this fact. There's no teen-boppin' pop star that the entire nation is captivated over. There's been a shift from the pop star to the rock star and there's really no clear "super rock star" other than perhaps Green Day, but thats about it.

[Victor99]

Re: U.S Music Album sales down 7%

I've always had good luck getting cheap CDs at Walmart. Yeah, they obviously don't have the selection of other stores, but the price is definently right.

[Victor99]

Re: U.S Music Album sales down 7%

CM, you hit it right on the head. So many of the newer bands have 1 hit single and they slap an album around it.

[Jimplication]

Re: U.S Music Album sales down 7%

I don't buy CDs anymore, and I am glad, because of the many albums I have acquired, there are possibly three I would consider being worth the money: Green Day, Mannie Fresh, and Haystak.

There are way too many bands releasing two "good" singles and then burying them on a sub-par album. I realize that pop music is generally shallow and catchy, but at least fill the entire album with such songs, and don't screw people by having them pay $10+ for two good songs.

And when I say "good" it's a very generous use of the word.

[ehh]

Re: U.S Music Album sales down 7%

I buy maybe 5 albums a year. If CD's were all under $10 then I'd buy a ton more, but the prices at most stores are idiotic.

And I don't feel bad for not buying albums since artists make hardly an money off them. Eff the labels.

[Fresh Tendrils]

Re: U.S Music Album sales down 7%

And I don't feel bad for not buying albums since artists make hardly an money off them. Eff the labels.

And when the labels start losing money, they start cutting artists from the label, which is decided by CD, ticket, and merchandise sales.