For the week ending May 30, the U.S. music industry sold a total of 4,984,000
albums, according to Nielsen Soundscan. This figure, which includes new and
catalog releases, represents the fewest number of albums sold in one week since
Soundscan began compiling this data in 1994. The highest one-week tally recorded
during the Soundscan era is 45.4 million albums, in late December, 2000.

You know how some of the only stores left are the big box stores. Have you seen how deserted those aisles are these days?

I have a feeling that the music section of Best Buy won't be around much longer. Takes up WAY too much floor space, and there's hardly any traffic (except me )

Let's keep supporting those local music stores that didn't give up!

Support your local record store y'all

I'm surprised people are buying music at all.

But the thing that people still dont get is that music still sells more than it did prior to the soundscan era, its just we are living in this numbers crazed era, where if you dont sell 100,000 week one your career is over, nonsense like that. So its all irrelevant, the disappearance of REAL music stores is the biggest cause in the drop, you take away the selection from people they arent just going to buy anything just to buy it, not in these times. So the soundscan BUBBLE of 1999-2001 has burst, this is it, deal with it.

Cinnie said:

You know how some of the only stores left are the big box stores. Have you seen how deserted those aisles are these days?

Yeah, I was wondering that the other day.

Comparing to the days when I was younger and still browsing through CD sections at every store I visited, there's a big difference. Personally I just won't bother making the trip to some remote location in order to get music anymore when I can do that in 5-20 minutes at home. Those days are over for me.

novabrkr said:

making the trip to some remote location in order to get music

I still enjoy this activity

Cinnie said:

You know how some of the only stores left are the big box stores. Have you seen how deserted those aisles are these days?

I have a feeling that the music section of Best Buy won't be around much longer. Takes up WAY too much floor space, and there's hardly any traffic (except me )

Let's keep supporting those local music stores that didn't give up!

I went to a Best Buy in Atlanta a couple of days ago, their CD section was fairly a non-factor.

iTunes, Amazon, corner bootleg stands, illegal file transfers and mail-order purchases have pretty much replaced the traditional way of buying an album

What once was is no more, and never will be again. There is so much to compete with music these days,

dvd releases, play stations, iPods, iPhones, pc this and pc that....there are only 4 major labels left, with one on lifesupport (EMI), and soon I predict there will only be three and they have downsized so much.

People like music, but no way are they ever gonna go to a retail store and pay $18.98 for a cd album again.

crazydoctor said:

I'm surprised people are buying music at all.

not in north america, sorry, but sales are booming in the UK, Europe that's why you'll see all the US acts in the UK/Europe in the Summer ......

Hope to get that Maxwell / Jill Scott gig over here soon!

Dreamer2 said:

crazydoctor said:

I'm surprised people are buying music at all.

not in north america, sorry, but sales are booming in the UK, Europe that's why you'll see all the US acts in the UK/Europe in the Summer ......

Hope to get that Maxwell / Jill Scott gig over here soon!

Exactly!!! its also much more lucrative for artists to do things and sell okverseas, 10,000 sold in the uk is relevant, here you would be a topic on this forum for being "finished".

RnBAmbassador said:

Cinnie said:

You know how some of the only stores left are the big box stores. Have you seen how deserted those aisles are these days?

I have a feeling that the music section of Best Buy won't be around much longer. Takes up WAY too much floor space, and there's hardly any traffic (except me )

Let's keep supporting those local music stores that didn't give up!

I went to a Best Buy in Atlanta a couple of days ago, their CD section was fairly a non-factor.

iTunes, Amazon, corner bootleg stands, illegal file transfers and mail-order purchases have pretty much replaced the traditional way of buying an album

What once was is no more, and never will be again. There is so much to compete with music these days,

dvd releases, play stations, iPods, iPhones, pc this and pc that....there are only 4 major labels left, with one on lifesupport (EMI), and soon I predict there will only be three and they have downsized so much.

People like music, but no way are they ever gonna go to a retail store and pay $18.98 for a cd album again.

its more than that, people in large dont wanna pay anything for it, you can put a new cd on sale for 5.99, and by in large people will still steal it as opposed to paying for it. Now this is all going to hit the other industries like a ton of bricks, why do you think we have Snooki as a celebrity, because its cheaper than having a real actress in an acting union than that horror show get tv time. And all media is about line, fuck quality at this point, who cares, because the public by in large doesnt care about quality.

Just look at the fact that everyone has an mp3/ipod etc...and less than 5% of people actually paid for the music on it, when that reality hits the movie industry, you will have a "snooki" star every other day, and you can kiss any form of quality goodbye.

but this is what WE caused, we allowed the labels to bullshit about pricing, and squeeze out real music stores and selection, now you have a store like Best Buy's selection, where the Latin section is half a row, and the reggae section is about 6 artists.

lastdecember said:

Dreamer2 said:

not in north america, sorry, but sales are booming in the UK, Europe that's why you'll see all the US acts in the UK/Europe in the Summer ......

Hope to get that Maxwell / Jill Scott gig over here soon!

Exactly!!! its also much more lucrative for artists to do things and sell okverseas, 10,000 sold in the uk is relevant, here you would be a topic on this forum for being "finished".

Most of the smart artist have worked it out, physical sells and downloads UK/Europe is where the money is , plus heathly concert ticket sales and a loyal fan base can keep you going for years .....

Ask Kelly Rowland, Kings of Leon, The Killers, Ms Keys etc...

Here's a full article from billboard.com. June is going to be a big month? Well, if the only thing I have to look forward to are new releases from Miley Cyrus and Eminim, then I guess I won't be buying any CD's in June, neither!

Bad times just got worse.

For the week ending May 30, the U.S. music industry sold a total of 4,984,000 albums, according to Nielsen Soundscan. This figure, which includes new and catalog releases, represents the fewest number of albums sold in one week since Soundscan began compiling this data in 1994.

By comparison, album sales for the week ending May 31, 2009, totaled 5.76 million. The highest one-week tally recorded during the Soundscan era is 45.4 million albums, in late December, 2000.

This week's record low comes as the major record companies continue to reckon with a decade-long decline in sales, and as other prominent sectors of the industry, such as the touring business, go through sea changes of their own.

And that's not all: While there's no exact way to compare last week's total against imprecise, pre-Soundscan tallies, Billboard estimates that weekly album sales volume could, in fact, be at its lowest point since the early 1970s.

"We think this is the lowest week ever, or at least of the Soundscan era," says Universal Music Group Distribution president Jim Urie.

According to the RIAA, album shipments in 1973 totaled 388.2 million units, an average of 7.47 million per week. Because Soundscan measures albums sold (i.e. scanned) and not albums shipped, Billboard looked at the relationship between annual album shipments, as measured by the RIAA, and annual albums sold, as compiled by Soundscan, for the years 1992-2009. During that period, shipments exceeded scans by an average of 30%.

By applying that 30% figure to the 1973 RIAA album shipment data, Billboard estimates that weekly album sales volume for that year may have totaled about 5.5 million units. That exceeds this past week's tally by 600,000 copies. (The RIAA began keeping figures on album shipments in 1973.)

Veteran sales executives caution against putting too much stock into pre-Soundscan record keeping. "Who the hell knows what weekly sales were back then," says Lou Dennis, who retired as Warner Bros. Records head of sales in 1996.

Whatever the benchmark, industry executives agree that this week's album sales total of 4.98 million units is "pretty scary," in the words of Bruce Ogilvie, CEO of leading music wholesaler Super D.

Digital track sales for the week totaled 21.7 million, and are distinct from the album sales tally.

UMGD's Urie cites this week's album total as "all the more reason why everyone in the industry should be focused on getting the U.S. Congress to introduce legislation that makes the Internet service providers our allies in fighting piracy. Piracy is getting worse and worse and the government needs to focus on that."

Like Ogilvie, Urie thinks that the slow release schedule is the main reason for the drop-off. "This week is likely a major aberration with no big new releases out," he says. "June will be big. Look at all the big records coming out, including Sara McLachlan, Drake, Miley Cyrus, Eminem and Jack Johnson."

http://www.billboard.com/...g=newstop1

kitbradley said:

Here's a full article from billboard.com. June is going to be a big month? Well, if the only thing I have to look forward to are new releases from Miley Cyrus and Eminim, then I guess I won't be buying any CD's in June, neither!

Bad times just got worse.

For the week ending May 30, the U.S. music industry sold a total of 4,984,000 albums, according to Nielsen Soundscan. This figure, which includes new and catalog releases, represents the fewest number of albums sold in one week since Soundscan began compiling this data in 1994.

By comparison, album sales for the week ending May 31, 2009, totaled 5.76 million. The highest one-week tally recorded during the Soundscan era is 45.4 million albums, in late December, 2000.

This week's record low comes as the major record companies continue to reckon with a decade-long decline in sales, and as other prominent sectors of the industry, such as the touring business, go through sea changes of their own.

And that's not all: While there's no exact way to compare last week's total against imprecise, pre-Soundscan tallies, Billboard estimates that weekly album sales volume could, in fact, be at its lowest point since the early 1970s.

"We think this is the lowest week ever, or at least of the Soundscan era," says Universal Music Group Distribution president Jim Urie.

According to the RIAA, album shipments in 1973 totaled 388.2 million units, an average of 7.47 million per week. Because Soundscan measures albums sold (i.e. scanned) and not albums shipped, Billboard looked at the relationship between annual album shipments, as measured by the RIAA, and annual albums sold, as compiled by Soundscan, for the years 1992-2009. During that period, shipments exceeded scans by an average of 30%.

By applying that 30% figure to the 1973 RIAA album shipment data, Billboard estimates that weekly album sales volume for that year may have totaled about 5.5 million units. That exceeds this past week's tally by 600,000 copies. (The RIAA began keeping figures on album shipments in 1973.)

Veteran sales executives caution against putting too much stock into pre-Soundscan record keeping. "Who the hell knows what weekly sales were back then," says Lou Dennis, who retired as Warner Bros. Records head of sales in 1996.

Whatever the benchmark, industry executives agree that this week's album sales total of 4.98 million units is "pretty scary," in the words of Bruce Ogilvie, CEO of leading music wholesaler Super D.

Digital track sales for the week totaled 21.7 million, and are distinct from the album sales tally.

UMGD's Urie cites this week's album total as "all the more reason why everyone in the industry should be focused on getting the U.S. Congress to introduce legislation that makes the Internet service providers our allies in fighting piracy. Piracy is getting worse and worse and the government needs to focus on that."

Like Ogilvie, Urie thinks that the slow release schedule is the main reason for the drop-off. "This week is likely a major aberration with no big new releases out," he says. "June will be big. Look at all the big records coming out, including Sara McLachlan, Drake, Miley Cyrus, Eminem and Jack Johnson."

http://www.billboard.com/...g=newstop1

But again the issue is missed even by Billboard, you are banking on 2 artists? Why dont you have 20 strong releases coming out, the problem is all in the Bottom Line, labels still make money, dont be fooled, if they were losing money, youd see shit flying. But where are your 20 strong artists, why cant a label have a George Michael, Bruce Springsteen, Prince, Madonna, Bon Jovi, Richard Marx, Guns N Roses, Lionel Richie, Michael Jackson, Janet Jackson, Elton John, Billy Joel, all coming out with a new record within a month or two of each other, to go along with the others that were huge in that period, because labels have no clue how to control that kind of flow.

lastdecember said:

But again the issue is missed even by Billboard, you are banking on 2 artists? Why dont you have 20 strong releases coming out

I think that is a big problem, but the solution seems to force every artist on the roster into some "hit-making" formula that usually means copying the sound of the last hit.

There's no way Justin Bieber is "flopping", and you can tell by how he is being treated by everyone right now. Real videos for every single, many singles, media coverage, constant touring, interviews.

Only a teen would have so much energy

Cinnie said:

lastdecember said:

But again the issue is missed even by Billboard, you are banking on 2 artists? Why dont you have 20 strong releases coming out

I think that is a big problem, but the solution seems to force every artist on the roster into some "hit-making" formula that usually means copying the sound of the last hit.

There's no way Justin Bieber is "flopping", and you can tell by how he is being treated by everyone right now. Real videos for every single, many singles, media coverage, constant touring, interviews.

Only a teen would have so much energy

but the thing is you cannot bank on the teens/kids as consumers. When the industry was selling its most, the rulers were Nysnc,Backstreet,Britney,xtina, and they were all teens, but teens werent buying the records, parents were buying the records for the kids. So technically kids had nothing to do with the "purchasing" so the impulse was to bank on every teen singer after that, but once those artists aged, reality sets in and they level off or disappear in certain cases, so thats mainly why that figure of 2000 is gone

lastdecember said:

RnBAmbassador said:

I went to a Best Buy in Atlanta a couple of days ago, their CD section was fairly a non-factor.

iTunes, Amazon, corner bootleg stands, illegal file transfers and mail-order purchases have pretty much replaced the traditional way of buying an album

What once was is no more, and never will be again. There is so much to compete with music these days,

dvd releases, play stations, iPods, iPhones, pc this and pc that....there are only 4 major labels left, with one on lifesupport (EMI), and soon I predict there will only be three and they have downsized so much.

People like music, but no way are they ever gonna go to a retail store and pay $18.98 for a cd album again.

its more than that, people in large dont wanna pay anything for it, you can put a new cd on sale for 5.99, and by in large people will still steal it as opposed to paying for it. Now this is all going to hit the other industries like a ton of bricks, why do you think we have Snooki as a celebrity, because its cheaper than having a real actress in an acting union than that horror show get tv time. And all media is about line, fuck quality at this point, who cares, because the public by in large doesnt care about quality.

Just look at the fact that everyone has an mp3/ipod etc...and less than 5% of people actually paid for the music on it, when that reality hits the movie industry, you will have a "snooki" star every other day, and you can kiss any form of quality goodbye.

but this is what WE caused, we allowed the labels to bullshit about pricing, and squeeze out real music stores and selection, now you have a store like Best Buy's selection, where the Latin section is half a row, and the reggae section is about 6 artists.

I don't think Snooki and her 15 minutes of fame is a good example.

The digital age pretty much killed the CD format. It's more convenient. Illegal downloading does take its part, but albums are no longer appealing unless you have that fanbase or you're Justin Beiber. It's mostly about singles now.

Aryll said:

lastdecember said:

its more than that, people in large dont wanna pay anything for it, you can put a new cd on sale for 5.99, and by in large people will still steal it as opposed to paying for it. Now this is all going to hit the other industries like a ton of bricks, why do you think we have Snooki as a celebrity, because its cheaper than having a real actress in an acting union than that horror show get tv time. And all media is about line, fuck quality at this point, who cares, because the public by in large doesnt care about quality.

Just look at the fact that everyone has an mp3/ipod etc...and less than 5% of people actually paid for the music on it, when that reality hits the movie industry, you will have a "snooki" star every other day, and you can kiss any form of quality goodbye.

but this is what WE caused, we allowed the labels to bullshit about pricing, and squeeze out real music stores and selection, now you have a store like Best Buy's selection, where the Latin section is half a row, and the reggae section is about 6 artists.

I don't think Snooki and her 15 minutes of fame is a good example.

The digital age pretty much killed the CD format. It's more convenient. Illegal downloading does take its part, but albums are no longer appealing unless you have that fanbase or you're Justin Beiber. It's mostly about singles now.

Actually she is a great example because she is what is looked for, she is mindless, she has no clue, she comes cheap, tv can make tons off her and has, she has no rights or ownership to anything she did, her show cost nothing to make and rakes in tons for mtv, shes basically a hooker and mtv is her pimp. I mean be honest if you were doing a film would you cast her for $1,000 bucks or hold out for a trained actress that had to get 100,000 dollars because of the actors union?

Its not about killing off the cd, Digital is convenient but not as much as not having to pay for something, lets face it, everyone does it in abundance, and the people that make the ipod/mp3's know that. True if you have a base, like a Pearl Jam or REM or if your a disney star, or if you are Andrea Boccelli you will sell records regardless of times or theft of property and convenience.

lastdecember said:

Aryll said:

I don't think Snooki and her 15 minutes of fame is a good example.

The digital age pretty much killed the CD format. It's more convenient. Illegal downloading does take its part, but albums are no longer appealing unless you have that fanbase or you're Justin Beiber. It's mostly about singles now.

Actually she is a great example because she is what is looked for, she is mindless, she has no clue, she comes cheap, tv can make tons off her and has, she has no rights or ownership to anything she did, her show cost nothing to make and rakes in tons for mtv, shes basically a hooker and mtv is her pimp. I mean be honest if you were doing a film would you cast her for $1,000 bucks or hold out for a trained actress that had to get 100,000 dollars because of the actors union?

Its not about killing off the cd, Digital is convenient but not as much as not having to pay for something, lets face it, everyone does it in abundance, and the people that make the ipod/mp3's know that. True if you have a base, like a Pearl Jam or REM or if your a disney star, or if you are Andrea Boccelli you will sell records regardless of times or theft of property and convenience.

How so? I don't see what she has to do with falling albums sales. She's a completely different topic, that's what trying to say.

They should've had every CD sell for around $5. Then they'll be OK, but I guess they want people to give up $20 of their money. FUCK THAT.

People forgot that labels actually let artists develop for years. You can't just put out something and expect it to sell past 500,000.

Nowadays you're gonna have to hustle (positively) to even get what you want in terms of sales. Being on reality shows won't cut it that's for sure.

crazydoctor said:

I'm surprised people are buying music at all.

When I buy music, I try to buy quality but sometimes stores don't put quality in the stores so no one has real interest in purchasing what they think is crap lol

Aryll said:

lastdecember said:

Actually she is a great example because she is what is looked for, she is mindless, she has no clue, she comes cheap, tv can make tons off her and has, she has no rights or ownership to anything she did, her show cost nothing to make and rakes in tons for mtv, shes basically a hooker and mtv is her pimp. I mean be honest if you were doing a film would you cast her for $1,000 bucks or hold out for a trained actress that had to get 100,000 dollars because of the actors union?

Its not about killing off the cd, Digital is convenient but not as much as not having to pay for something, lets face it, everyone does it in abundance, and the people that make the ipod/mp3's know that. True if you have a base, like a Pearl Jam or REM or if your a disney star, or if you are Andrea Boccelli you will sell records regardless of times or theft of property and convenience.

How so? I don't see what she has to do with falling albums sales. She's a completely different topic, that's what trying to say.

Its all connected is what im saying, the industry is doing things cheaply too, the music industry is making money, no one realizes that, they are getting paid, selling singles by the truck load is more lucrative to the suits than selling an album, if no one ever cut another album again they would be happy. that is the connection, how cheap it is. whether its a reality tv star or some loser ringtone singer.

Timmy84 said:

crazydoctor said:

I'm surprised people are buying music at all.

When I buy music, I try to buy quality but sometimes stores don't put quality in the stores so no one has real interest in purchasing what they think is crap lol

Well it comes down to basic fact that everyone thought that stores like Tower,Virgin and Sam Goody were charging 18 bucks to rip people off, people just had no clue what was really was really going on, labels squeezed these companies dry, they charged these stores up to 13 dollars per disc, now these stores had to put things on sale to compete, so they had to go 11.99 and take a 2-3 dollar on every new release, well, how long can that business model work? its just like the whole real estate thing that is going on, people buying houses who dont even have the cash flow to rent an apartment. Now the public thought these stores were greedy, not at all, they were the ones keeping the selection but when you break even or lose money on the only thing you sell, and then add in the employees wages and rents for stores etc...did anyone wonder why they all closed and we are left with Best Buy or WalMart for Music? Now Best Buy is even removing music dvds from certain locations, and is talking of another 50% cut in music levels in stores, so basically music will be nothing more than what i have been calling it, the "fries with your meal" its not a relevant thing anymore to most of the world, YES more people listen to it, but most didnt even buy it, so how long do you think that business model will last?

Well i dont really care because all my artists, have their own sites, and fan bases and tour anywhere in the world and sell out, so, its what will come in the future that people need to worry about.

lastdecember said:

Timmy84 said:

When I buy music, I try to buy quality but sometimes stores don't put quality in the stores so no one has real interest in purchasing what they think is crap lol

Well it comes down to basic fact that everyone thought that stores like Tower,Virgin and Sam Goody were charging 18 bucks to rip people off, people just had no clue what was really was really going on, labels squeezed these companies dry, they charged these stores up to 13 dollars per disc, now these stores had to put things on sale to compete, so they had to go 11.99 and take a 2-3 dollar on every new release, well, how long can that business model work? its just like the whole real estate thing that is going on, people buying houses who dont even have the cash flow to rent an apartment. Now the public thought these stores were greedy, not at all, they were the ones keeping the selection but when you break even or lose money on the only thing you sell, and then add in the employees wages and rents for stores etc...did anyone wonder why they all closed and we are left with Best Buy or WalMart for Music? Now Best Buy is even removing music dvds from certain locations, and is talking of another 50% cut in music levels in stores, so basically music will be nothing more than what i have been calling it, the "fries with your meal" its not a relevant thing anymore to most of the world, YES more people listen to it, but most didnt even buy it, so how long do you think that business model will last?

Well i dont really care because all my artists, have their own sites, and fan bases and tour anywhere in the world and sell out, so, its what will come in the future that people need to worry about.

And this is why I love the internet because whenever something from the store is not there, you can always google somewhere and find it posted there. Just watch it before it's taken down. But it's there.

Sometimes I just look at the music section in Wal Mart and go "this is the best you can do?" They have some great rock CDs for about 5 dollars, I may get some tomorrow hahaha and the new Janelle Monae.

Timmy84 said:

lastdecember said:

Well it comes down to basic fact that everyone thought that stores like Tower,Virgin and Sam Goody were charging 18 bucks to rip people off, people just had no clue what was really was really going on, labels squeezed these companies dry, they charged these stores up to 13 dollars per disc, now these stores had to put things on sale to compete, so they had to go 11.99 and take a 2-3 dollar on every new release, well, how long can that business model work? its just like the whole real estate thing that is going on, people buying houses who dont even have the cash flow to rent an apartment. Now the public thought these stores were greedy, not at all, they were the ones keeping the selection but when you break even or lose money on the only thing you sell, and then add in the employees wages and rents for stores etc...did anyone wonder why they all closed and we are left with Best Buy or WalMart for Music? Now Best Buy is even removing music dvds from certain locations, and is talking of another 50% cut in music levels in stores, so basically music will be nothing more than what i have been calling it, the "fries with your meal" its not a relevant thing anymore to most of the world, YES more people listen to it, but most didnt even buy it, so how long do you think that business model will last?

Well i dont really care because all my artists, have their own sites, and fan bases and tour anywhere in the world and sell out, so, its what will come in the future that people need to worry about.

And this is why I love the internet because whenever something from the store is not there, you can always google somewhere and find it posted there. Just watch it before it's taken down. But it's there.

Sometimes I just look at the music section in Wal Mart and go "this is the best you can do?" They have some great rock CDs for about 5 dollars, I may get some tomorrow hahaha and the new Janelle Monae.

I barely even go to a store anymore, for so long i fought going into Best Buy just because they arent a music store, i mean i have had numerous experiences with Best Buy "not knowing" artists, when the Hall and Oates box set came out it took them 2 weeks to stock it, so when i went in day one and asked for it, they said "hall and who? is that a tv series" and then more recently with the new Air Supply cd, i asked "do you have the new air supply" and got the response "whats that, some new techno group" i mean give me a fucking break, they didnt even stock the damn thing for a week also. I mean im not saying you got have Hall And Oates displays up, but shit, stock a couple, trade in about 100 of the 1000 copies of the usher cd collecting dust and get 3-4 hall and oates cds.

lastdecember said:

Timmy84 said:

And this is why I love the internet because whenever something from the store is not there, you can always google somewhere and find it posted there. Just watch it before it's taken down. But it's there.

Sometimes I just look at the music section in Wal Mart and go "this is the best you can do?" They have some great rock CDs for about 5 dollars, I may get some tomorrow hahaha and the new Janelle Monae.

I barely even go to a store anymore, for so long i fought going into Best Buy just because they arent a music store, i mean i have had numerous experiences with Best Buy "not knowing" artists, when the Hall and Oates box set came out it took them 2 weeks to stock it, so when i went in day one and asked for it, they said "hall and who? is that a tv series" and then more recently with the new Air Supply cd, i asked "do you have the new air supply" and got the response "whats that, some new techno group" i mean give me a fucking break, they didnt even stock the damn thing for a week also. I mean im not saying you got have Hall And Oates displays up, but shit, stock a couple, trade in about 100 of the 1000 copies of the usher cd collecting dust and get 3-4 hall and oates cds.

Probably 18-year-olds that play hip-hop all day probably. That's sad lol

Dreamer2 said:

crazydoctor said:

I'm surprised people are buying music at all.

not in north america, sorry, but sales are booming in the UK, Europe that's why you'll see all the US acts in the UK/Europe in the Summer ......

Hope to get that Maxwell / Jill Scott gig over here soon!

Actually outside the US and UK there's hardly any music industry left, because at least there the digital singles are selling. In most of Europe iTunes didn't catch on and CD sales are as low as in the US. The US acts are performing in Europe because they have to go on tour to earn money, simple as that.

lastdecember said:

But the thing that people still dont get is that music still sells more than it did prior to the soundscan era, its just we are living in this numbers crazed era, where if you dont sell 100,000 week one your career is over, nonsense like that. So its all irrelevant, the disappearance of REAL music stores is the biggest cause in the drop, you take away the selection from people they arent just going to buy anything just to buy it, not in these times. So the soundscan BUBBLE of 1999-2001 has burst, this is it, deal with it.

I would say it's because of the internet.

People can get a much larger selection for free from the comfort of their own home.

At an all time low! I've been picker about what I buy, but even though I joined the semi legal Mp3Feista (a Russian website that offers songs heavily discounted), I buy all new releases I want and only use downloading for stuff not available on CD (or stuff I know I wouldn't buy a full disc of). I know with more stores lessen their shelf space for CDs (as well as DVDs), I will be supporting the local indies more and more.

I'd compare this to how a certain section of the TV industry is going too. If you've got a great, long running scripted TV show (actually the USA has loads of them, but American Idol is still the highest rated show), that show can be syndicated around the world for years, perhaps decades. You can profit off DVD releases, Blu-Ray releases, merchandise if you're lucky and further releases on future formats.

American Idol/Dancing With The Stars/X-Factor/Big Brother or whatever reality based stuff may get the high ratings week after week but after the audience has watched it, they're pretty much done with it.

The industry had a boom in 1999-2001, and at the time I put that down to the death of the single format in the USA. That teeny boom with album sales was practically double what it really should have been because it was just before legal digtal downloading went globally mainstream, and just before non techno/internet nerds like me weren't the only ones who knew how to torrent or use P2P programmes.

In 1999-2001 all those kids and their parents were duped into buying shitty albums with 2 songs they actually wanted.They didn't get value for money so as soon as they knew how, they jumped ship as consumers.