Worldwide music sales down again

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Worldwide music sales down again

Post by @?,*???&? » Thu Jan 24, 2008 10:14 am

Because less and less people are releasing 'legitimate, mastered and pressed' releases. That's my hypothesis. Any arguments?

Here's a blurb from FMQB today:



Worldwide Music Sales Down Ten Percent In '07
January 24, 2008

Nielsen SoundScan already released its figures on 2007 music sales declining in the U.S., and now the international trade group IFPI (International Federation of the Phonographic Industry) has released its global data. As expected, digital sales continue to grow though not enough to offset the drop in music sales overall.

According to the IFPI, global digital sales increased at a 40 percent rate last year, but due to declining CD sales, the overall music market dropped by roughly ten percent. Global digital sales were approximately $2.9 billion in 2007, with a 53 percent growth in single track downloads. Digital sales make up roughly 15 percent of the global music business, up from 11 percent in 2006.

The IFPI is calling on Internet Service Providers to further police illegal file-sharing as a way to combat the drop in sales. Recently, French President Nicolas Sarkozy pushed to block online access for frequent illegal downloaders. "It is hard to persuade anyone to be a pioneer but what we have with the French government is a very energetic government understanding how important the French music industry is to French business and culture," IFPI Chief Executive John Kennedy told Reuters. "That leadership shows that it's not as dreadful or as problematic as people think."

According to IFPI's data, even with the growth of legal digital music sales, the ratio of illegal tracks downloaded to legals ones purchased is approximately 20 to 1.

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Re: Worldwide music sales down again

Post by JGriffin » Thu Jan 24, 2008 10:22 am

@?,*???&? wrote:Because less and less people are releasing 'legitimate, mastered and pressed' releases. That's my hypothesis. Any arguments?
Well, it seems like this only tracks major-label (and possibly big, well-connected indie) releases...so I don't see where your hypothesis fits in. You mean to say that the majors are putting out less product?

Anyone who's not making a "minimum $15k" "legitimate, mastered and pressed" CD is basically not gonna show up on these people's radar anyway, so what does it matter? I mean come on, it's Neilsen SoundScan, man. :roll:

To paraphrase the bard, I doubt it is no other but the main:majors are releasing crappy music, and the new "culture of entitlement" generation doesn't see a problem with illegally downloading it.
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Post by thethingwiththestuff » Thu Jan 24, 2008 12:17 pm

well, as a 25 year old, middle-class-raised kid, yes, i can proudly say i feel entitled....

to decently made, thoughtful, independent music distributed well below the radar of farging iseholes like those organizations. they deserve my money and time. major label shit is so unappealing to me i dont even bother to illegally download it.

where's the study on sales of "illegitimate" records? if you can't see that that's where kids are spending their money, then i guess it's time to call for global policing of my internet connection to make sure i'm purchasing soundscan compatible albums.

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Post by ;ivlunsdystf » Thu Jan 24, 2008 12:32 pm

There's downloading/piracy/etc. That's a given.

But there's also been a lot of change in how adolescents spend their time. I bet video game sales are way up every year for the past five. When I spend time with my teenage cousins lately (like at the holidays) most of the conversations lead quickly back to the topic of video games. It seems that my generation (I am in my mid-30s) spent a lot more time talking about music than the kids do now.

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Post by RefD » Thu Jan 24, 2008 1:00 pm

i think the last "commercial" album i bought or otherwise acquired was 'In Rainbows' on CD (yes, i paid for it cos i LIKE it).

the vast majority of what i listen to is written/performed/recorded by either people i know or people my friends know...or someone i met while out and about.
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Post by thethingwiththestuff » Thu Jan 24, 2008 1:06 pm

RefD wrote: the vast majority of what i listen to is written/performed/recorded by either people i know or people my friends know...or someone i met while out and about.
man, as an engineer and touring musician there's that... i know or have met half the artists i listen to!

BUT also, lots of us (hipsters, if you want) buy used vinyl, used CD's, or download very old and forgotten compilations or unreleased records from the 60's and 70's. sorry, brittney. i prefer "jan pahechan ho" to "toxic" and Ghana Soundz vinyl comps to fucking Panic at the Disco CDs or whatever.

so yes, i disagree with your argument, you could say.

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Post by GooberNumber9 » Thu Jan 24, 2008 1:20 pm

I have a book from 2005 that says that even though CD sales are (were) tanking and overall sales are (were) down despite booming digital sales, the overall revenue for the music industry including licensing fees for movies and video games, live performance, and merchandising is (was) still shooting upwards at a respectable rate.

Maybe I'll come back and edit this post with the name of the book, but its overall theme is that there's still plenty of money in music, it's just you have to earn it in different ways from before. CD sales just aren't going to cut it any more.

I kinda hope/predict big trouble for the majors and a breakthrough of a bunch of indie bands in the early part of the next decade kinda like alternative in the early 90's. Maybe that's more hope than predict. Smaller studios may become the next big thing (haha), along with smaller production budgets. While I think some of us on this side of the glass may suffer financially, I hope the quality of the music will thrive. If recordings are not as lucrative as they used to be, maybe most productions will be priced out of affording Auto-tune. (crosses fingers)

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Post by @?,*???&? » Thu Jan 24, 2008 4:00 pm

thethingwiththestuff wrote:where's the study on sales of "illegitimate" records? if you can't see that that's where kids are spending their money, then i guess it's time to call for global policing of my internet connection to make sure i'm purchasing soundscan compatible albums.
My point exactly. Radiohead gives away their record and likely goes multi-platinum in the process, but no one is counting.

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Post by @?,*???&? » Thu Jan 24, 2008 4:03 pm

RefD wrote:the vast majority of what i listen to is written/performed/recorded by either people i know or people my friends know...or someone i met while out and about.
I get inundated at times with this stuff and it's 99% unrefined crap. A record that makes me say, "It could be great if only..." is painful and underachieved.

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Post by Jeff White » Thu Jan 24, 2008 4:21 pm

@?,*???&? wrote: I get inundated at times with this stuff and it's 99% unrefined crap. A record that makes me say, "It could be great if only..." is painful and underachieved.
Thanks for invalidating all of our hard work, passion, and joy. It means a lot. I'm sure that your opinions see a lot of love around here.
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Post by thethingwiththestuff » Thu Jan 24, 2008 4:28 pm

radiohead? what?

what the hell does the biggest rock band on the planet have to do with my friend, roommates, the entire national independent and punk rock touring circuit?

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Post by Jeff White » Thu Jan 24, 2008 4:44 pm

thethingwiththestuff wrote:radiohead? what?

what the hell does the biggest rock band on the planet have to do with my friend, roommates, the entire national independent and punk rock touring circuit?
They're all obviously unrefined crap, painful to listen to, and underachieved. And obviously, SoundScan and thirdmonkrecords.com both do not count any of that shit as legitimate music.

Sheesh, haven't you learned anything from this thread?
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Post by MoreSpaceEcho » Thu Jan 24, 2008 5:12 pm

@?,*???&? wrote:
RefD wrote:the vast majority of what i listen to is written/performed/recorded by either people i know or people my friends know...or someone i met while out and about.
I get inundated at times with this stuff and it's 99% unrefined crap. A record that makes me say, "It could be great if only..." is painful and underachieved.
so what you're saying is that all the people you know make really shitty music.

huh.

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Post by thethingwiththestuff » Thu Jan 24, 2008 5:13 pm

well, ok..... hold on, now.

in all fairness, if jeff's original point is the fact that "sales numbers" as reported by those orgs are skewed because they don't count sales of smaller acts, then wow, yeah, i agree.

if we're hoping someone will count digital sales of MAJOR LABEL ACTS LIKE RADIOHEAD (yes, radiohead are a major label act), then i yawn, because that's still not my thing.

but if you're blaming "unrefined, illegitimate" artists for, literally, the decline in music sales and interest in it altogether, then i wholeheartedly disagree.


so mostly, i'm confused as to what the hell this thread is about.

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Post by RefD » Thu Jan 24, 2008 8:29 pm

MoreSpaceEcho wrote:
@?,*???&? wrote:
RefD wrote:the vast majority of what i listen to is written/performed/recorded by either people i know or people my friends know...or someone i met while out and about.
I get inundated at times with this stuff and it's 99% unrefined crap. A record that makes me say, "It could be great if only..." is painful and underachieved.
so what you're saying is that all the people you know make really shitty music.

huh.
yah, that's the message i got as well.

to clarify, most of the people i know make really entertaining and enjoyable music.

birds of a feather, i guess!
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