Why do people make so much of record sales?


I have NEVER understood that...

for instance, 50 Cent was talking about his CD outselling Kanye...SO WHAT. What will that mean?


Someone on the radio was talking about Kelly Clarkson and how her CD only sold 19,000 copies last week...SO WHAT?


Also, I notice that when people talk about an artist or a group, they always talk about how many albums they sold...SO WHAT.

why isnt it more about the creativity of the music vs sales?


I remember a friend and I was having a discussion about Mint Condition and they was like "have they ever went Platinum?"
I was like WHO CARES?
sales doesnt mean that an artist is good.
[Edited 8/23/07 16:28pm]
[Edited 8/23/07 16:29pm]

I know...lots of albums went platinum and shit but sales dont make the quality and material on it any more worth hearing than one that sold 1000 copies.

Sales are absolutely irrelevant to me and no indication of talent. Most of the stuff I listen to you would never find on the charts, I'm talkin movie and video game scores and stuff like that, created by people with real talent. You don't need much to get record sales these days, not if you have the right image. It's a shambles!!

FunkJam said:

I agree but MOST people put so much stock into sales...I was talking to a colleague that argued me up and down that if a CD dont do well the first week, that means that its not good. This is the same person that put stock into a song being #1.....OK.

Some fans live and die by record sales, they seem to have no other clue what makes a great artist and a great record, except for record sales.
[Edited 8/24/07 9:36am]

I don't get that shit either.
Only jackasses care about record sales.

I pretty sure EVERY artist cares some about record sales. Fans care a bit also. If 3121 at it's highest peak charted at number 98, y'all would care.
[Edited 8/24/07 9:40am]

LittleBLUECorvette said:

Wrong.
I wouldn't have given a fuck if 3121 hadn't charted at all or if it had been #1 for 12 week in a row. I just don't care one bit.

LittleBLUECorvette said:

WHY? I didnt care that RAINBOW CHILDREN didnt chart..or whatever it did on the charts

It still was a good CD to me


Extreme concern about Billboard positions and sales is for people that cant understand or dont care about the integrity of the music IMO
[Edited 8/24/07 9:44am]

Come on wouldn't care just a tad bit. With all the hype and press 3121 was getting before it's release date, it it charted at #98, you wouldn't be like, WTF, that's it?



The Rainbow Children is a whole different deal, it got no hype and press around it's release date, it wasn't supposed to be a bhigh charter.

LoveAlive said:

Exactly. People who don't know shit about music are always the first ones to bring up album sales.

LittleBLUECorvette said:

NO.

LittleBLUECorvette said:

OK, lets take RAVE UN2 THE JOY FANTASTIC..

that bombed...I didnt care...I dont listen to Prince(or anyone else) cuz of how much they sell. If the music isnt like it supposed to, you can sell a trillion copies and I wouldnt care one way or another. FOR ME, its about the music.
[Edited 8/24/07 9:55am]

LoveAlive said:

Amen, brother.

LoveAlive said:

Why you gotta keep bringing me into this??? What did I ever do to you?

Sowhat said:

ROTFL!!!!!

FuNkeNsteiN said:

Well 99% of the population DON'T know anything about music. I mean it's not like most people are musicians. We just hear a good song and we like it and buy it. Record sales are important because it shows that an artist has gone beyond his/her fanbase in it's appeal. Let's face it, most really good songs sell well.

mrsnet said:

God, you're an idiot.
[Edited 8/26/07 5:19am]

midnightmover said:

mrsnet said:

Some great songs do sell well, but there is a load of trash that sells well too. I find the best songs are the ones that are never release as singles.

I care a bit about record sales...I don't let them determine what i listen to or buy. But when i like a certain artists I damn sure hope his album sells good, cause if it doesn't it might mean the album I'm currnetly holding could be the last one I ever get.

so from time to time i look at the charts and they might motivate me to buy that extra edition, or make a certain album one of the christmas gifts i put under a tree.
[Edited 8/26/07 6:34am]

double post, sorry
[Edited 8/26/07 6:34am]

kev1n said:

But sometimes people go on about records sales because the artist they love isn't doing so well in other areas. Take Michael Jackson fans they are obsesse with his record sales as if to say that's what makes him still relevant inspite of the continual negative publicity surrounding him. But in my opinion his best album was Off The Wall which out of all his solo projects has sold the least. I think it is a more innovative and classic than his subsequent albums.

It's like Marvin Gaye's Whats Going On it probably didn't sell a fraction of Thriller but it is a more important and relevant album than Thriller. In the scheme of most things record sales mean very little, it just makes the record companies and artists a little richer if they sell more rather than less.

midnightmover said:

Go crawl back in your hole. You are obviously not in shape ,yet,to converse with the civilized world.

whatsgoingon said:

But I'm not talking about the trash. I'm talking about the good/great songs. And it's all subjective anyway. But consider the classics; the 25 best selling albums - all great sellers.
[Edited 8/26/07 9:08am]

mrsnet said:

Britney and all those awful boy bands sell well too. The fact of the matter is there is a lot of rubbish that sells well and there is a lot good stuff that doesn't sell that much at all.

And you talk about the 25 best selling albums of all time - Is Whats Going On? one of the best and most important albums ever made amongst those top sellers? I doubt it very much.

LoveAlive said:

Records are supposed to be sold... Right ??? And if people buy records that means they like it. And that's also an accomplishement for an artist to sell a lot of records... So yeah we talk about it.

whatsgoingon said:

I agree. Albums sales need to be taken into a relative context because there were more people buying music today and in the 1990s than in the 1970s (larger population, fewer barriers for certain artists into certain demographics, marketing, exposure to more technology and media information, etc.).
[Edited 8/26/07 9:50am]