Record Biz On Skids: No Sales This Week

Yes, it’s January. But that’s no excuse for what’s happened in what can only euphemistically be called the record business.

According to numbers calculated by hitsdailydouble.com, the top 10 CDs sold a total of about 350,000 copies last week. Forget the rest of the "chart"—there isn’t one to speak of. After the top 10, the numbers trail off into oblivion.

Or more oblivion.

Last week the number 1 album, by the forgettable Taylor Swift, sold just under 62,000 copies.

Mariah Carey’s repurposed greatest hits, the biggest "new" release of the week, came in at number 10 with 27,000 copies sold.

At that rate, the industry might as well give the music away for free. Oh wait, they’ve been doing that for a few years now on the internet.

From what Mariah will get on those CD sales, she wouldn’t even be able to have both feet pedicured at the same time. And Sony’s cut isn’t enough to pay Rick Rubin’s car fare, let alone a whole company of execs or the rent at the old CAA headquarters.

All eyes then will be on Bruce Springsteen’s new CD for Sony, Working on a Dream, which debuted yesterday. Springsteen and the E Street Band will appear on the Super Bowl show on Sunday, hoping to get a sales bounce. Even if that works, the numbers won’t turn up for a week. When Springsteen’s first week sales are counted, the Super Bowl won’t yet have played a factor

wow, the mainstream music biz is really on it's last leg

and look at the crap thats being released!

Looking at the choices.....and more importantly listening leaves me cold. Maybe the record biz should focus it's energy on real artistry 4 a change.

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Good, maybe now real music by actual musicians will make a comeback.

Graycap23 said:

Real artistry....amen to that.

SCNDLS said:

My sentiments exactly.

Harlepolis said:

One can ONLY hope.....

Graycap23 said:

If there's a black president in my lifetime, I know the table can be turned in this situation(lack of musical talent).

Harlepolis said:

Sales are always low this time of year. Nothing to shit your pants over, people.

"Getting worse" my ass, hell this is wonderful news! I'm so happy I could cum in my motherfucking pants without even touching my dick.

It's about time that these dead asses get the message....either throwdown or sit down. I'm not naive enough to think that these dead asses aren't buying the new shit because they want some jams. That would be too much like right. They aren't buying the new shit because of all the downloads and copying for friends. The dead asses are still dead, they are just finding other ways of getting their dead music other than buying it. Oh well, whatever it takes to make the record labels go bankrupt suits me just fine. I'll take what I can get.
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[Edited 1/29/09 8:35am]

vainandy said:

I agree, this is a message to the record labels bosses. "We don't want to support that commercial shit anymore". Because if people just would like, I mean LIKE what they hear on radio or youtube, they would go out and buy it.
Anyway, this should lead to following consequences

Artists shouldn't release studio albums anymore. Until the 60s it was not common to consider an album as a statement, an artform. in the 1950s most albums consisted of the singles and it's worse b-sides.

Why shoudl anyone bother spending millions and hours and months on making an album with 14 songs, when, if anything, only the first single is successfull??

Look at what happened with Madonna and Coldplay. They only released two singles within A MONTH, with cheap videos. they didn't even bother to release other great songs like "Lost!" anymore... Because the costs for promotion would be more expensive than the single salesbring in money.

In the future artists need to release SINGLES only. Like Elvis did. Throw in the occasional bonus-song for itunes. After three or four singles that people know and bought you need to tour because you didn't make money so far.
On tour you play the other song you recorded as well and could sell a tour edition album, where the singles and the other songs are put together.

what do you think?

Are albums that are soled during concerts or as tickets (like Prince did in 2004) still counted???

Oh, if people started making good music again, I wouldn't want them to stop making albums and just release singles because that's not enough songs from an artist. I think they should go back to releasing singles again like they used to do because there were always folks like Deniece Williams or Ashford and Simpson in which I would buy the single because I knew the rest of the album would be weak. However, there were artists like Prince, Rick James, or The Barkays in which every song on the album was good. So I think they should release both albums and singles like they used to. The difference is, the music was good back then.

As for internet only releases, they should never do that. Computers still aren't cheap enough for everyone to afford. If I hadn't bought mine with the stimulous check that was sent out last year, I still wouldn't have one at home. Then, there's internet service that has to be bought which is a monthly fee and internet service that is fast enough to download songs is really too damn expensive. Not to mention it's a monthly internet fee which you would still have to pay whether you like the songs available for download or not. Having internet only releases is requiring people to have to pay for internet each month. That's like requiring people to pay for cable TV each month which is exactly what this digital TV conversion in February is doing...either that, or forcing people to buy those expensive ass digital TVs eventually when they have a perfectly fine TV at home and no need to waste hundreds of dollars (that they don't have) just to get a damn digital picture. See....now you done got me on another rant. I can't stand for people to try to force money out of me.

So people don't buy music cause it's shit, right?

Yeah, sure

Of course people love illegally downloading shit. Why shouldn't they?


[Edited 1/29/09 9:18am]

And I love it that they are illegally downloading it. They are copying it for friends also and I love that too. I tell my nephews all the time, when one of them buys a new shit hop CD, bring it to me and let me copy it for their cousins. That way, it's one less copy that has made money for the record label or the shit hopper. Everyone needs to do their part in killing shit hop because every little bit helps. Just like...."your one little vote might count in the election"...."your one little copy might count in killing shit hop". We just have to keep praying and hoping and eventually change is gonna come! Keep on holding on! Never lose hope! Keep on keepin' on! Hallelujah! Praise the Lord! Kill shit hop! Kill it!

vainandy said:

midnightmover said:

thats so funny ...but true...albums are art forms that should be left to artist all this rushing out a 14 track album that has 2 good tracks and 1 that may be playable in 3 years time is not on...it's a rip off...

Wouldn't nor buying nor downloading it make a better, more credible statement?


I mean. If people are consuming it, it's still a product. Someone will try to sell it.

I want better music too but I don't think an out of business industry will release it. And there's where we're heading.

PANDURITO said:

but good music will find someone. Onöy people that are arrogant and try to make non current-music bur fail and are shit say: Because we make good music no one wants us.

GOOD music will ALWAYS find a label. But you must be able to sell your persona too. There were better singers than Diana Ross, but she's the most famous female Motown act.

vainandy said:

I'd rather see a bootlegger on the street making money off of it than see the record label or so-called artist make the money. They are the reason music is what it is today. Once they stop making money, they'll stop making their bullshit music.




As in no music of any kind being made because no business industry can sell it because of the illegal downloads? I'd rather see good new music being made and sold but if no new music of any kind being made is what it takes to get rid of the bullshit that's dominated for over 15 years, I could live with it. At least that way, all music would be considered old and the nightclubs would be forced to eventually dig in their crates and play something good. As it is now, if you like R&B, all clubs that play current music are shit hop clubs. With no current music being made, clubs would get sick of playing the last hits that existed before current music went extinct and they would be forced to go back and play music from the past...which was good music. See...it's not just a matter of..."well, if you don't like current music, then listen to what you like at home"....that doesn't work because that means good music isn't being played in clubs. I'm a single whore and I need clubs to find some new dick. With good music in the clubs, at least I'm being entertained and having a good time even if I don't get lucky finding a dick for the night. That way, at least the evening wouldn't be a total loss (like it is now). Naw, shaking ass at home alone don't get you no dick.

vainandy said:

"real" artists are not going to save the industry. real artists are all
over the place on internet and they sell like 3,000 copies of their cds.

people just download everything. i know, i do it too. the only thing the
industry needs to do is make the product far less expensive.

you could sell a cd for $ 7.- and the artists would still get as much,
and if deals were renegotiated on fair terms even more, than they used
to get. if people would stop pricing that shit up just to skim off the
top of it, the finished product would cost sooo much less.

if i could go out and buy ten albums i really like with good songs on
them and not just filler, dishing out 60 dollars in total, that would
be great.

these days in europe i'll pay $25.- for a cd in most places. that's a
total rip off. i'd rather download it for free, sad and dishonest as
it may be. the artists get like 1 dollar from a unit sold. so all i'm
doing is lining the pocket of the skimmers by shelling out extortionate
amounts of money for a cd or a dvd.

vainandy said:

Are you insane? You'd rather that a bootlegger gets the money than an artist. You are an irresponsible fool. It's idiots like you that don't give a shit about downloading music illegally (because you feel as if you're screwing over "the man", no doubt) that have made the industry the way it does today. Idiot.

IstenSzek said:

This is indeed the case. The "real" artists still suffer the most of this current scenario, although I guess everybody will have to just deal with it from now on. Recording music's not going to bring the bread to the table.

IstenSzek said:

You can get most CDs under 10-12 Euros online in shops like cd-wow, play.com, bangCD... (no shipping charged anywhere in the world). I buy lots of CDs and those places save me a lot of money.

Of course you save more

Lowering the price of CDs is not going to save the music industry. "Real artists" or whatever that means, are not going to save the music industry either. Go look at Billboard charts from yesteryear - lo and behold! - it's dominated by "crap" music. You won't find Ndegeocello on there. You won't find Maitreya on there. You won't find Kate Bush. Stalwarts this board enthuses over are typically not featured at the top of the charts. People need to stop acting like music died after Puffy started sampling. No - crap music has littered the top of the charts for years. The 50's, 60's, 70's, and 80's were not decades of great artistic/musical triumph completely devoid of "crap." The Beatles, Miles Davis and Stevie Wonder had to put up with The Monkees, Kenny G and Wild Cherry.


The only way the music industry can survive now is through ISP providers threatening to disconnect illegal downloaders' internet service.

In contrast, if artists can somehow convince consumers to care again.....

chuckaducci said:

True

I've thought about how Japan does the copy-protection thing and how the sales in Japan are still okay in some terms

they're also still releasing CD singles

chuckaducci said:

Good points...

vainandy said: