Album sales down to a new 8 year low. INDUSTRY IN CRISIS!

[edczxcvbnm]

U.S. music album sales last year slid to their lowest level since 1996, squelching any hopes that the recording industry's long downward spiral may have bottomed out, according to sales data issued on Wednesday.

Tracking firm Nielsen SoundScan, which measures point-of-sale purchases across the United States, said total album sales -- including current and catalog titles -- fell 7.2 percent from 2004 to 618.9 million units, the lowest since 1996, when they were 616.6 million.

After enjoying a rare "up" year in 2004, prompting predictions the worst was over, sales flagged during 2005, hurt by competition from illegal downloads, rival forms of entertainment such as video games, and a lack of breakout musical acts.

Indeed the top album was from veteran pop singer
Mariah Carey, who sold almost five million units of her comeback release "The Emancipation of Mimi." By contrast, the top album of 2004, R&B singer Usher's "Confessions," sold almost eight million copies that year.

The industry counts CDs, cassettes, vinyl records and digital releases as "albums."

Nielsen SoundScan said overall music sales, which includes albums, singles, music videos and digital tracks, jumped 22.7 percent to just over a billion units in 2005. The rise was fueled by a 194 percent increase in digital downloads.

Industry leader Universal Music Group was the top distributor with 31.7 percent of album sales, up from 29.6 percent in 2004. The unit of France's Vivendi Universal SA released both Carey's album and the year's second-ranked album, rapper 50 Cent's "The Massacre," which sold 4.9 million units.

Sony BMG Music Entertainment, a nascent joint venture between Sony Corp (NYSE:SNE - news). and Bertelsmann AG, was second with 25.61 percent, down from 28.4 percent in 2004. Its top album was inaugural "American Idol" winner
Kelly Clarkson's "Breakaway," which ranked No. 3 for the year with sales of 3.5 million copies.

Third was Warner Music Group Corp., with 15 percent of the market, up slightly from 2004 when it had about a 14.7 percent share. Album sales were led by punk trio Green Day, which sold 3.4 million copies of "American Idiot," the year's No. 4 release.

EMI Group Plc. was last among the "big four" major labels with 9.5 percent, down from 9.9 percent in 2004. Its top act was British band Coldplay, which ranked No. 6 on the albums list with sales of 2.6 million copies for "X&Y."

SOURCE: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060105/...re_albums_dc_1

I am mainly posting this because it still amazes me that the music industry seems to think illegal downloads are the cause of its year in and year out failures. NOBODY wants the next Metallica album. No one want to hear most of these people. They all sound the same or sound the same as their counter parts 6 years ago. The industry isn't growing or finding NEW talent.

I am not saying they have to sign the Polo Ponys(although I wouldn't mind it if they did) but they should probably go out and find people who write their own music and do a good job of it. Go to some bars and places like that. Try to find talent and grow it.

Also it isn't just album sales that are down. It is also concert sales that are down and continueing to decline. That is the biggest pointer that it isn't file sharing. Most of these people can't do a decent job of playing music in the first place. The only reason it sounds good at all is because you can mix the <img src="/xxx.gif"><img src="/xxx.gif"><img src="/xxx.gif"><img src="/xxx.gif"> out stuff in the recording studio.

I end this all with these great words

"THANK YOU SUPER BOWL!"

WHAT THE smurf WAS HE THINKING WHEN HE SAID THAT ONE?!!??!?!!?!?

[jrgen]

Wohoo, win!

This is not bad for the future production of music. The music production will never cease. It's just bad for the record companies and their productions created solely for commercial success. I wouldn't shed any major amount of tears if all the major record companies would suddenly just perish. It wouldn't prevent new good music from being available.

The best music is created by people who have a desire to create good music, not by people who have a desire to become rich and famous. These people will not stop creating music even if their current label goes bankrupt. Many artist sell their albums merely on a website, which they made themselves and that way they make a lot more money per CD than they would if they were signed to a record company. Record companies fill no important function, they just extract money from the pockets of the bands and the consumers.

[Rye]

Yeah, seriously. They don't want to consider that music just... sucks lately. There were hardly any new CDs that I bought in 2005 that came out in 2005, and only one or two of the ones I did buy were good.

[jrgen]

Music doesn't suck lately. You're just not looking hard enough. It's just the music that the record companies make available to everyone that sucks.

[Rye]

Music doesn't suck lately. You're just not looking hard enough. It's just the music that the record companies make available to everyone that sucks.

Which is what I've been trying to do lately. I've been going into more underground bands lately, and they don't suck, but still.

[A7X_Weapon]

all the mainstream music nowadays sucks
Which decade do u guys rekon had the best music?
IMo 80s had the best music

[Chris]

I think people are less invested in celebrities today than lets say, 10 years ago. And true, I've only bought one CD of 2005, and that was by a performer who's been around for more than a decade. People do not care about bimbo looking Pussycats Dolls or airheads like Jessica Simpsons.

[jrgen]

Which decade do u guys rekon had the best music?
IMo 80s had the best music

The 00s or the 90s. 2004 is my favourite year.

[Suikojowy]

I BLAYM TEH INTERWEBS!111!!!!!!!!

Yeah a lot of mainstream (and well promoted) music sucks nowadays. Your average joe won't really be willing to look into the better and more underground stuff, nor will he want to buy any of the more mainstream stuff 'cause it sucks. Therefore he just forgets about music and decides he's better off just sitting on the couch watching football and drinking beer.

There are still a few mainstream bands I like. Such as Franz Ferdinand and The White Stripes. Other than that, it's pretty bad.


Oh and my favourite decades are the 60s and 90s

[Captain Maxx Power]

Record sales prior to the 1900's were zero, and music did just fine and dandy. I for one really couldn't care less if these megacorporations get a few less billion a month. Maybe it'll jack their asses into gear.

[Cuchulainn]

*strokes my ipod full of illegally downloaded mp3s*

smurf the music sales & smurf the Record Companies. If bands want to earn, go on tour & sell t shirts, can't d/l them, yet anyways. File sharing has saved me a bucketload. God bless t'internet.

NB: If anyone from a particular industry or a particular art form is reading this, please regard the above as a false confesion done as a cry for help & NO OTHER REASON.

Signed
Fatima Whitbread & definately not Gareth, the person in my profile who I don't know & never heard of anyway so shut up.

[ZeZipster]

Virgin Records recently started putting encryption on their CDs so you can't rip songs. Genius. Pure genius. They ignored the fact that iTunes can't recognize the CD, and some computers all together can't make heads or tales of it. Not to mention the fact that MUSIC = SOUND. If we can hear sound, Virgin, we can record it. Desperate smurfing corporations and shameless disregard for HOW MUCH PEOPLE ARE PAYING FOR YOUR MOTHERsmurfING PRODUCT is what's killing the music industry, not illegal downloads. Dandy work there, Virgin. I'm sure everyone is gonna run out and buy your CDs now! Although I find it disappointing that they stopped there. I mean seriously the only logical thing for major record labels to do now is to sell CDs without songs on them, this way no one can hear it and so no one can rip songs off of it!

The failure of major record labels can only help the music industry. Maybe now radio stations will stop playing the same Greenday song thirty times in a row? Maybe people, with the help of downloading music (not even illegally, legally too) people will begin exposing themselves to more than what those major labels are willing to show them.

smurf Warner, Universal, Sony BMG, and EMI. If your demography charts, marketing strategies, and A&R departments are failing you why don't you slap lawsuits on them instead of us? Assholes.

[WonderingBeaner]

you can blame those who like to share music with eachother on the net...

[Venom]

all the mainstream music nowadays sucks
Which decade do u guys rekon had the best music?
IMo 80s had the best music

Some new bands sound good.

I do agree the eighties were a great time for music, probably not the best.

[Giga Guess]

My heart....she is breaking.

I'm sorry, it's quite simple....I haven't heard a CD yet that I went "I MUST HAVE THAT!" Music SALES were at an all time low because music QUALITY seems to be at an all time low (Yes jrgen....if we all went into underground we'd have this magic oasis of talent, yadda-yadda-yadda....my bf is the Music Co-ordinator for our local Breakfast show....I came across a stunning realization....some undiscovered bands were very good, yes....but some of them are just really, really bad.....so it's still a minefield.)