Some of you can read about low record sales and see that the 3121 performance may have more to do with the overall poor performance of all CD in the industry

Record Biz Crisis: Top 20 Misses 750G

http://www.foxnews.com/st...14,00.html


The top 20 pop albums sold fewer than a total of 750,000 CDs last week.

You read that correctly. The actual total was 738,211. The number includes 220,000 copies of a greatest hits singles collection from all the labels, "Now That's What I Call Music! Vol. 22." Without “Now 22,” regular releases came in around 500,000 copies.

This is a crisis that no one acknowledges in the record business. But consider that recently dismissed Sony execs Donnie Ienner and Michelle Anthony were making $2 million a year, and that their income is typical of upper echelon management in any record company. If the half million CDs sold at full price — $15 — then they didn’t even pay for a small part of one salary.

Consider also the execs at radio conglomerates, who have tightened playlists so that few new records are played unless — as identified by New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer’s findings — stations receive free trips, gadgets and other gifts as inducements. You might wonder how any of the companies on either side can afford to stay in business.

Consider that last Tuesday, “Now 22” was not the only new release. Sony/Epic issued a new CD by writer-producer Butch Walker, a performer whom this column has extolled over and over. Not only did no one from the company bother to send it here, this reporter only learned about it by accident — yesterday.

Walker should have a following from his extensive touring — he produces and opens for Avril Lavigne. But he’s been ignored by his label and radio. What’s he supposed to do? The CD sold fewer than 15,535 copies — the minimum it would have taken to hit the top 50.

And here’s an amazing statistic: four songs from the new album have been played a total of 200,000 times on Walker’s MySpace page. I doubt this is the work of one person who clicked the links that many times. Some group of people is interested in Butch Walker. They’re just not a group that his label or radio stations are interested in, apparently.

If they were, there would be more of an investment in Walker’s career — and other countless talented artists like him — by the record companies. Instead, the record stores are empty, and customers are drifting toward other entertainment.

There isn’t a lot to look forward to right away in terms of new releases: Rapper DMX has a new album on Aug. 1, but his last one was three years ago. Rocker Tom Petty’s waited four years to put out his new CD, and the last one wasn’t exactly a bestseller, with fewer than 350,000 copies sold.

Yesterday’s crop of new releases has only one promising title, by Los Lonely Boys, whose previous album sold 2 million copies. All eyes will be on them to see if they can beat their last first week sales record: 4,000 copies. That shouldn’t be too hard. Or Music, a satellite label from Epic, sticks with their artists the way most labels do not.

it's hard for me to feel any sympathy - the record labels have done it to themselves.

When u put out shit.....

I've read reviews of albums here weeks BEFORE they were released
I guess not everybody pays for their music

PANDURITO said:

Would you spend $20 for a bullshit album?

TonyVanDam said:

Why download it then?

PANDURITO said:

I wouldn't downloaded it neither.

Thought you were answering my
comment

PANDURITO said:

People wouldn't necessarily buy the albums that they download - most folks who download music d/l far more than they would ever be able to buy.

The record industry has screwed itself and downloads are just one factor of many.

Fisrt of all, there are two things happening here. One of them isn't unusual, but the other is a major change.

The first thing is that mid-summer is a traditionally slow time for album sales to begin with. Most major acts have either released their albums early in the year to capitalize on selling in the spring and releasing new singles during the summer, or they are holding out their releases for the fall and Christmas seasons. If you look at the major releases which were available at this time last year, even Mariah Carey's album, which was the top-selling album of the year, was selling at only about 75,000 to 90,000 copies because it had already been out for some time. Gwen Stefani's "Love.Angel.Music.Baby" was only selling about 50,000 units, even as her song "Hollaback Girl" was the most downloaded track at the same time.

Now the other thing that's happening isn't a crisis (unless you're a record executive); it's a paradigm shift. It's equivalent to being a horse and buggy manufacturer when Henry Ford released his Model T, or the big three TV networks when cable TV became more available and affordable for the masses. The stranglehold that the record company cartel had on the distribution of music is rapidly eroding as people find easier and cheaper ways to get the music they want. No matter how hard the record companies try to stop digital downloading, it is not going away, and instead of trying to be greedy and fighting a futile battle to stop it, they need to find ways to take advantage of it that will not only benefit them, but their customers and artists as well. As it is right now, the record companies are sitting on tons of back catalogue which could be making money for them today instead of hoarding it away to keep from paying royalties from the artists who created it.

BlaqueKnight said:

No doubt.

They need to trim the fat with the all the production that goes into getting an artists album out. It's not just the greedy execs. Stylists, consultants, pseudo-celebrity producers, psychologists, backup dancers, there's too many people hopping along for the ride. Do we really need a multimillion dollar video for all these forgettable crappy teen pop songs they keep putting out?

Since everyone is downloading music online (both legally and illegally), why don't they work out some kind of deal with the internet prodviders, to include some kind of reasonable tax, then chill out and let filesharing be. I mean, if there was like an additional $5 tax on my cable bill each month, I wouldn't care.

Tom said:

But u see.....that makes 2 much sense. Plus NOT everyone downloads. That would not be a fair tax.

Tom said:

The answer is not in taxing people.
People shouldn't be punished for corporate greed. As you said, label need to trim the fat. The answer however, is WHERE it needs to be trimmed. It needs to be trimmed at the TOP, not the bottom. ALL RECORD EXECS MAKE TOO MUCH MONEY! ALL OF THEM!

NorthernLad said:

I have no sympathy. They'll blame piracy but basically if you put out shit and don't invest in proper artists this is what happens.

WildheartXXX said:

BlaqueKnight said:

728huey said:

BlaqueKnight said:

The taxing thing was just a thought. I look at it this way, I pay about 55 bucks a month for my internet access, than another 10 bucks a month for my Rapidshare account (which I LOVE by the way, LOL). Lord knows how much music and movies I have downloaded but the money hasn't gone to the movie studios or the record labels, it went to my cable company and to rapidshare. Maybe drop the process of buying each song or CD individually, and make the internet like one giant all you can eat buffet

Tom said:

That works for you, but not everyone downloads music and movies. There are many people that have no idea where to start even if they did want to. A charge that allows you more access is one thing but a charge to try to balance things is another. If you knew how many un-necessary exec label jobs there are and how much they make, you'd understand completely.
[Edited 7/20/06 13:16pm]

Alot of things need to be looked at here. One is the fact that Record Stores and Chains are falling by the day. Just in the past year Musicland/Sam Goody shut down close to 500 stores throughout the country. Its also that Tower Records once again is facing Closure of more than half its stores and FYE which has been basically breaking even is going to be shutting down some 50-100 stores in the coming year. All that shutting down leads too less ordering and that is one thing that is keeping units down. It should also be noted that Digital Sales are way up, which is not factored in, but that doesnt really help record stores because they stock "physical" ways of getting music. All in all though music isnt down in terms of sales, the problem is what labels pay out to market a record. I heard an interesting figure the other day that the Promo Push behind the new Janet record was costing around 10 million dollars, now thats not counting any Videos being made or anything like that. So Janets new CD has to sell almost 5 million in the states for the label to break even, because of all the money they put out and the people they have working for them. Another reason there is this huge "glut" in the industry is because of the advertising and media and the way music is pushed. its all about your video, your image, your look. Just the other day I watched about an hour of videos and I saw, Cassie, Brooke Valentine, some other new RB girl forget her name and the rest were a blur, they were all the same, i couldnt tell u the difference, everyone was just trying to look hot, but the vids are all the same, the songs are all the same, there just isnt anyone doing something different, and if they are they dont get played. And the more established artists like a Beyonce or Janet play right into this and just go with the flow.

I really dont feel for the industry because it did it to themselves, i really feel that in about 2 years there will be maybe one or two labels left, just recently there were 2 other Mergers talked about one being EMI-WARNER, this merger would eliminate 4000 workers and 400 artists would get cut. What i think needs to happen is the system just needs to crash, and then work its way up. MTV and all those things need to be kicked in the ass. An indie channel needs to come along with the help of artists looking to get played can get played, no VJ's NO TRL none of it, just a fresh start.

Another thing to be looked at is that Labels are losing, but all in all units sold of "Physical" cds are not, back in 1986 BonJovi's Slippery when wet(which sold 10 million in US), when at its peak was selling 70,000-100,000 a week, putting in the top 5 which is where it would land today, so really nothing has changed with the excpetion of the amount of Stores selling music, the amount of money wasted by labels trying to promote their lame artists and of course the thing that is killing music besides the horrible artists, is the fact that everything is owned, MTV and all the stations are bought and sold, radio is bought and sold, there is no wide selection of music, you pretty much see and hear what they want you to buy.
[Edited 7/20/06 13:53pm]
[Edited 7/20/06 13:54pm]

lastdecember said:

Interesting that you say that these artists were just a blur, because that's exactly what all of this music is like! You have all of these ladies singing the same sparse beats, the same R&B/hip-hop riffs, very similar lyrics, the same dance moves in their videos, and the same suggestive come-on and do me look. It's no wonder that Rhianna, Christina Milian, Cassie, Brooke Valentine, and that other chick that Jay-Z signed last year who sang about being bad because she was raised without her daddy all sound, look and feel the same. It's a real shame in the case of Rhianna because she comes from the Caribbean and could have a very unique sound of her own.

BTW, the other reason that Sam Goody/Musicland, Fye and Tower Records are having to close their stores is because Walmart and Best Buy are cannibalizing the wholesale market by selling hit records and new releases below cost in order to get customers to buy other items. Since Sam Goody and Tower Records can't sell groceries, apparel, appliances, plasma TVs, camcorders, iPods, and automotive supplies, this is killing their margins. And yet, even though Walmart and Best Buy have become the largest music retailers in America, their selection still is geared only towards big artists and familiar genres, and you would be hard pressed to find any jazz albums that are not either Kenny G, boring new-agey "smooth jazz" stuff, or Rhino-type compilations of Miles Davis or John Coltrane.

And i should also add its not limited to just RB females, pretty much all of RB alot of Rap, i mean isnt every Rap Video the same, booty girls, gold chains, bottles of liqour, flashing cash and cars. And lets not leave it Rock and Pop, everything from the Avril lavignes to Kelly Clarksons to Cheyenne this new girl, to BAD rock bands like All american Rejects to _____ fill in the blank theres a new one every other day i lose track, its all the same, because mainly Labels are selling everything to kids, they are jamming it all down their throats so much they buy it.

As for the Music Retail thing, yeah i know, i did it for a long time and every day i had to explain WHY cd's cost so much, people tend to think that Stores jack up the prices but just do the math if someone sells you something for 11 dollars how can u sell it for 9???

TonyVanDam said:

That's why I didnt buy 3121

Even though it was placed in some places for 9$

Trickology said:

I have always found this very stupid and wondered about it. Why in the hell would you release a compilation album of songs that are still in style? Why the hell would someone buy an artist's album if they can get the song they want on a compilation along a bunch of other songs they like while they are still in style? The only people that are going to buy the artists' albums are the ones that are fans of that artist already.

Hell, back in the K-Tel days, a song had long been out of style before a compilation came out.

I think these labels are all working together, making their money, and screwing these artists.

To be blunt, the world just doesn't need the record industry. For those who really like music it can be found and enjoyed. But this idea of a big, huge, inefficient corporation doling out music just isn't in anyone's best interest.

Just listen to radio for a half hour to get my meaning.

Watch a video channel for the same amount of time.

Trickology said:

Why or how did you come to THAT conclusion that 3121 is a BS album?

vainandy said:

As far as I'm concern, the RIAA gets no respect. And I hope the powers of internet file-sharing destory them.

Besides, the only artists that are piss about P2P are some rappers anyway.
[Edited 7/21/06 20:28pm]