Plunge in CD Sales Shake Up Big Labels
Posted May 28, 2007 — in Music News
The New York Times talks about the chaos in the major label world.
CD sales have plunged more than 20 percent this year, far outweighing any gains made by digital sales at iTunes and similar services. Also, It’s to costly to sign new bands and build a buzz.
Sources say “Everyone in the industry thinks of this Christmas as the last big holiday season for CD sales,” Mr. Sinnreich said, “and then everything goes kaput.”
EMI agreed last week to be purchased for more than $4.7 billion by a private equity investor, Terra Firma Capital Partners, whose diverse holdings include a European waste-conversion business. Rival bids could yet surface — though the higher the ultimate price, the more pressure the owners will face to make dramatic cuts or sell the company in pieces in order to recoup their investment.
Very few albums have gained traction. More than half of all music acquired by fans last year came from unpaid sources including Internet file sharing and CD burning, according to the market research company NPD Group.
Although Majors are trying different approaches in order to survive, the real million dollar problem is the creative drought and the lack of artists who ignite consumers interest in buying music.
Sales of rap, which had provided the industry with a lifeboat in recent years, fell far more than the overall market last year with a drop of almost 21 percent, according to Nielsen SoundScan. (And the marquee star 50 Cent just delayed his forthcoming album, “Curtis.”)
Its a new world…………….
But….
You can read better news Here, aka the ‘Alternate Industry’.
The Writer for the NY Times is right. We are facing a “CREATIVE DROUGHT” and KOAR knows why.
You cant sell records if consumers aren’t interested.
NEW KOAR article coming..DRIVEN TO DISTRACTION and Why we are facing the Creative Drought.
Comment by koar — May 28, 2007 @ 8:11 am
The music industry has to be purged from all the A&R who don’t know the difference between singing in key and a door key….
Comment by Full Devil Jacket — May 28, 2007 @ 11:23 am
Oh yeah…there’s a real creative drought. Millions of bands and they all suck. Maybe you don’t have the time to go out and find the great music but don’t tell me it doesn’t exist.
Comment by Brett — May 28, 2007 @ 12:04 pm
Has anyone asked themselves why internet radio is so popular? Why is it growing by leaps and bounds while terrestrial radio and the record business are going to hell in a hand basket? The reason is that most people find the playlists these small radio operators come up with refeshing. And what are they playing? I guarantee it isn’t top 40 and it isn’t the same song over and over. There’s a huge disconnect between the record labels and the talent that’s out there. I could rattle off 20 bands that produce music that’s as good as anything out there and that you’ve never heard of. Creative drought my ass.
Comment by Brett — May 28, 2007 @ 12:16 pm
Music is still just as good as it ever was… I know because i am out there playing with these bands. Im telling you right now bands like Fair, Thriving Ivory, Egypt central, Go Van gogh, Saving Abel and of course One less reason have put out great albums that would sell a ton of records if put in the machine. Please labels sign one of these bands….. i dont care if its me …. just one of these bands. There i have done your job for you, free of charge. I have given u a million dollar check… just sign it and cash it. Fools.
Comment by Cris — May 28, 2007 @ 12:55 pm
Love the band Go Van gogh!!!!!
Comment by full devil jacket — May 28, 2007 @ 1:01 pm
10 great indie bands:
Canto 6
The Ropes
Starewell
Hello Operator
Michael Shapiro
Thriving Ivory
Berman
Jupiter Crash
Stone Coyotes
Black Lab
* waits for some smart ass to tell me one of the bands I listed are signed to a major label and that I
don’t know what I’m talking about *
Comment by Brett — May 28, 2007 @ 1:23 pm
Comment:
Oh yeah…there’s a real creative drought. Millions of bands and they all suck. Maybe you don’t have the time to go out and find the great music but don’t tell me it doesn’t exist.
KOAR comment:
Yes, they truely do suck. If you don’t want to use the word suck you can dress it up more nicely to say “those artists simply dont resonate with people”.
And yes, I am telling you that they don’t exist, at least not now. I heard someone say to me “There must be another Madonna”….He has been searching for 18 years for that madonna. Again, it doesnt exist.
If you dont believe me, i am asking you to have blind faith. Or you can prove me wrong by sending those “legendary” artists that you are keeping such a SECRET.
The truth is that Creative Droughts can exist. It may be a tough nut to swallow, but a life permitting universe is too…
Also, KOAR will be talking about new Artists that are a CUT above the rest..Its raining in our world..
Dean
Comment by koar — May 28, 2007 @ 1:43 pm
“And yes, I am telling you that they don’t exist, at least not now. I heard someone say to me “There must be another Madonna”….He has been searching for 18 years for that madonna. Again, it doesnt exist.”
I am sure there is another madonna out there but u have to look at the times as well. She was shocking in a time that it was easy to shock. She was a marketing genius for her time but if she was out now she would be overlooked by all of the labels and passed by. Same thing with an artist like Phil Collins… he sold millions and millions of records but… if he was an artist trying to get a deal these days there would be no way… the labels would say “well he just doesnt have it”. Music has not changed… the biz has. I am not saying there is this HUGE amalgamation of bands out there that are truely talented but there are a few and they are all still unsigned. Black Lab is def one of those bands, See the sun record would have killed top 40 radio and still only the people that will go out there and look for it are the people that know about it. I find TONS of fantastic bands at http://www.alternativeaddiction.com they know that is up with music just like the people here at KOAR
Comment by Cris — May 28, 2007 @ 2:14 pm
Personally, I think the problem is more that labels don’t look for potential anymore. They want people that already have reached their potential, but in the end, their local followings end up being the only people buying their cds. Obviously, finding potential is hit and miss, but bruce springsteen wasn’t signed because he was great, he became great. Of course, they decided artist development was a waste of money.
Comment by melie — May 28, 2007 @ 2:44 pm
honestly its a mix between both!
no good bands
and…..
shitty A&R
and…..
changed market
and…..
illegal downloading
and…..
shitty radio
and….
shitty TV
and…..
and…..
and…..
you get the point
Comment by DB — May 28, 2007 @ 5:35 pm
If you hold up Madonna as an example of “great music”…well that just says it all. The reason these bands don’t resonate with people is that noones ever heard of them. If you think the people who are making the best music have truly risen to the top you live in a dream world. You obviously haven’t been exposed to enough of what’s out there to make a serious judgment.
Comment by Brett — May 28, 2007 @ 8:12 pm
“If you think the people who are making the best music have truly risen to the top you live in a dream world. You obviously haven’t been exposed to enough of what’s out there to make a serious judgment”
But who is to say what good music is? We have to look at this from a biz stand point of what sells… and emo bands and the formula they have now DO NOT sell. You might not like bands like Daughtry or Nickelback but millions of people do… there is a reason they keep putting out records and going platinum its because middle and southern america love it and they still buy cd’s.
Comment by cris — May 28, 2007 @ 8:23 pm
50 changed album titles and concepts on the album, add to that a planned worldwide release and the date had to be changed. Don’t you worry though he will sell and sell and sell millions.
Comment by A2daC — May 29, 2007 @ 12:04 am
Hey Dean, remember me? Maurice from The Netherlands
I think we have to realize that today the product ‘music’ creates communities which can be exploited, whereas in the old days ‘music’ was wrapped up in a jewel box and sold in retail.
Labels should start facilitating and exploiting communities, now is the time!
I am in the process of creating a small list with how the music world is changing, call it Music 1.0 vs. Music 2.0 if you will. Dean, I will send it to you when I think It’s done!
Comment by Maurice Brand — May 29, 2007 @ 5:02 am
could it also be the price of cd’s that is hurting label sales?what is the amount of cd’s a year that the average person can afford. when we think of cd sales we think of signed bands but what about unsigned bands is it possible that the amount of unsigned band cd sales are starting to make a dent?
Comment by larry anderson — May 29, 2007 @ 5:22 am
Comment:
If you hold up Madonna as an example of “great music”…well that just says it all. The reason these bands don’t resonate with people is that noones ever heard of them. If you think the people who are making the best music have truly risen to the top you live in a dream world. You obviously haven’t been exposed to enough of what’s out there to make a serious judgment
KOAR COMMENT:
Need to carefully read my words. I didnt hold up Madonna as the Beginning and the End and the Alpha and the OMEGA and i certainly didnt hold her up an example of great music. I used her as an example of a UNIQUE character that resonated with the public and won legions of fans. Nothing is out there right now, at least what we know about, and certainly the public doesnt care. Stars are not coming from the music realm. Unforunately, the public made Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohen into stars. They are the new Axle Rose snorting coke, getting arrested, and making headlines. Rock is no longer dangerous. Rock has become a hangout for 40 year old women.
Comment:
could it also be the price of cd’s that is hurting label sales?what is the amount of cd’s a year that the average person can afford.
KOAR COMMENT:
The prices of CD’s is not the reason why the public stopped buying. The price of CD’s are lower than ever, cant give away CD’s these days. CONFIGURATION caused the CD to decline and the lack of artistry.
Comment:
honestly its a mix between both!
no good bands
and…..
shitty A&R
and…..
changed market
and…..
illegal downloading
and…..
shitty radio
and….
shitty TV
KOAR COMMENT: The best comment of the day, all the above is true. Call it the PERFECT STORM.
Dean
Comment by koar — May 29, 2007 @ 8:49 am
10 more great indie bands and artists:
Mike Errico
Fiasco
Cocktail Revisionists
here’s some in my back yard!
Space Cretins
Himsa
Drop Six
Blame Amy
Point One
Top Heavy Crush
Heavy Metal Poetry
All I’m saying is there’s a differnce between commercial success and artistic abilty. Sure “Smokey and The Bandit” grossed 200 million..but noone would give it the same critical acclaim that a movie like say “Manhattan” got. That’s all I’m saying. Out of a million bands I say there are a thousand diamonds in the rough and Dean says there are zero. If you listen to some of these indie podcasts and internet radio stations I guarantee you that every few hours you’ll say to yourself “why aren’t THEY signed?”
Comment by Brett — May 29, 2007 @ 12:54 pm
hahaha dean,
i know what the problems are…….I just dont know how to fix them???? sadly, i think the industry is dead and will never recover
DB
Comment by DB — May 29, 2007 @ 1:17 pm
This is just a wild theory, but could all of this be caused by over-exposure to music? You know as well as I that a song, especially a hit, can lose its resonating value after you listen to it 100x a day. Songs and music have been filtered into our minds through commercials and other forms of blatent marketing that take the real value of music away. I’ll call it the elevator music syndrome. You hear it so much that you hate it and it starts to become pretty bland after a while.
If somehow you can get music popular without the over-exposure, then maybe you’ll sell more records. That’s just my 2 cents on all of this.
Comment by annie — May 29, 2007 @ 1:26 pm
How To Fix The Music Industry:
Embrace the transition from Cd to mp3 format the same way you transitioned from vinyl records to cd’s
Instead of signing one or two mega acts adopt a scattershot approach where you throw out a few dozen bands to the public and see what sticks, shifting resources immediately when an act catches fire, marketing the hell out of them till you’ve squeezed every laast dollar of revenue from touring merchandising and cd I mean mp3 sales.
Comment by Brett — May 29, 2007 @ 1:37 pm
that new Satellite Party is hot……platinum
Comment by Brett — May 29, 2007 @ 2:28 pm
“Instead of signing one or two mega acts adopt a scattershot approach where you throw out a few dozen bands to the public and see what sticks, shifting resources immediately when an act catches fire, marketing the hell out of them till you’ve squeezed every laast dollar of revenue from touring merchandising and cd I mean mp3 sales.”
That’s exactly what they do now. They sign a ton of bands that never see the light of day or are dropped after one soft release because there is a bigger buzz moving faster somewhere else. Don’t really see how ‘more of the same’ will fix their problems.
Comment by AJ-KOAR — May 29, 2007 @ 5:25 pm
KOAR..is cd sales down “over all” in the music buisness or is it just the rock divisions?well when all else fails we should see a bunch of “boy bands and girl groups on tv again”….mmmm
Comment by larry anderson — May 30, 2007 @ 4:53 am
This week’s album sales were down 3.2% from last week’s total at 8.35 million units, and down 16.7% compared to the same week last year.
Comment by AJ-KOAR — May 30, 2007 @ 1:54 pm