Some Harsh Music Industry Facts

Here are some harsh music industry facts, coming out the Future of Music Coalition Policy Summit:

• In 2008, more than 115,000 albums were released, but only 110 sold more than 250,000 copies;
• Only 1,500 releases topped 10,000 sales; and
• Fewer than 6,000 cracked the 1,000 barrier.

In other words - if you put out an album, you've got a 1 in 20 chance of selling more than 1,000 albums.

With numbers like that, is it any wonder that the big labels are putting their energy into pushing music that appeals to the lowest common denominator?

via The Chicago Tribune, image: dq

Link:

• Future of Music Coalition

James Lewin
Twitter @podcasting_news

What are the historical numbers. I guess that there are many times more albums also being released these days now that the barriers to entry are so low.

I suspect that even through fewer people may be making a living from album sales, a lot more people are releasing albums and some of them may be stringing together a living through live performance.

05-Oct-09 12:00 AM

i don't trust these figures. so often statistics like these are skewed, not taking into account things like digital sales, ringtones, etc. so what if people are buying less plastic? so what if people are supporting INDEPENDENT ARTISTS, instead of the corporate shills that have given us so much junk.

05-Oct-09 01:24 AM

Some data to back up the figures (or at least give a breakdown of them - major/indie/true independent releases) would be interesting.

That aside (and this is probably only a sub-point of the article above), I don't think there's any problem with major labels pushing music that appeals to the "lowest common denominator". Business is business. They work on a large scale and need product that sells. It's like jam - you can buy the mass-produced factory made stuff from your supermarket, but if you want the stuff made with quality local ingredients (and a bit of love) then you go to a market. I think we're lucky we live in a time when we have not only the choice, but the opportunity to easily seek music that we *actually* like.

05-Oct-09 03:27 AM

Those figures are total rubbish! I agree, they have indeed been skewed and in no way give an accurate figure. Total waste of space.

05-Oct-09 03:38 AM

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