https://guitarnoise.forum/news/music-sales-slide/ Guitar Noise Discussion Board en-US Thu, 04 Jun 2026 05:32:18 +0000 wpForo 60 https://guitarnoise.forum/news/music-sales-slide/#post-149690 Fri, 06 Jan 2006 17:41:53 +0000 News Ignar Hillström https://guitarnoise.forum/news/music-sales-slide/#post-149690 https://guitarnoise.forum/news/music-sales-slide/#post-149687 Fri, 06 Jan 2006 17:33:35 +0000 News fiskep https://guitarnoise.forum/news/music-sales-slide/#post-149687 https://guitarnoise.forum/news/music-sales-slide/#post-149614 Fri, 06 Jan 2006 06:46:17 +0000 legally purchased a set number of times. I just can't stomach all of the so called "controls" that are a detriment to the consumer but do nothing to stop piracy.]]> News olive https://guitarnoise.forum/news/music-sales-slide/#post-149614 https://guitarnoise.forum/news/music-sales-slide/#post-149534 Fri, 06 Jan 2006 01:22:45 +0000 News pearlthekat https://guitarnoise.forum/news/music-sales-slide/#post-149534 https://guitarnoise.forum/news/music-sales-slide/#post-149367 Thu, 05 Jan 2006 16:43:56 +0000
The other great news at least for me is that many artists can now post their songs cheaply and easily. With the spread of broadband services many more listeners can DL the music and enjoy music that would never be available at the local record shop!]]> News fiskep https://guitarnoise.forum/news/music-sales-slide/#post-149367 https://guitarnoise.forum/news/music-sales-slide/#post-149363 Thu, 05 Jan 2006 16:25:30 +0000 Oh I do know better than that!]]> News becksbolero https://guitarnoise.forum/news/music-sales-slide/#post-149363 https://guitarnoise.forum/news/music-sales-slide/#post-148954 Wed, 04 Jan 2006 00:00:16 +0000
First off, Nielsen Soundscan is one of two services that provide daily sales figures to subscribers, getting data uploaded by retailers. Not all retailers, mind you, but enough so their data can be used as intended - to estimate sales of one album, and specifically to see how one album is doing against another - in other words, whether your marketing program is working, or if you should be tweaking it. A story printed on December 31 is using this estimated data for the year.

Actual sales numbers take several more days, since Nielsen doesn't reach all stores. Nielsen reports those too, gathered from distributors - those numbers aren't released yet (I'd posted an incorrect link earlier... actual sales figures are due out tomorrow). Soundscan comes from only 14,000 retail stores.

On top of that, there's ANOTHER part of the story - legal downloads. Those are up a bit... that is, a bit over 151% from a year ago. The equivalent of more than 26 million more albums sold - an increase of 16 million albums from last year.

Download data is interesting in another way, too. 80% of downloads are single-song, rather than entire albums. So what we're really seeing is the slow death of the B side. And the slow decline of CDs, as they go the way of the 8-track, the 78, and the 45.

It doesn't seem like music sales are truly hurting. They're winning in court, too... today's local paper has the story of a woman who fought the $3500 download fee the RIAA had sought. Her defense was that she only sampled the songs, then went out and bought the CDs she liked.

The judge found that since she didn't delete the ones she didn't like from her computer, there was no merit to her defense - she stole those songs. Instead of the $3500 the RIAA sought, he ordered her to pay $22,500. He compared her actions to a shoplifter taking CDs from a store to listen to, with the intent of paying for the ones she liked later on.]]> News NoteBoat https://guitarnoise.forum/news/music-sales-slide/#post-148954 https://guitarnoise.forum/news/music-sales-slide/#post-148928 Tue, 03 Jan 2006 23:13:54 +0000 News fiskep https://guitarnoise.forum/news/music-sales-slide/#post-148928 https://guitarnoise.forum/news/music-sales-slide/#post-148926 Tue, 03 Jan 2006 23:11:53 +0000 News fiskep https://guitarnoise.forum/news/music-sales-slide/#post-148926 https://guitarnoise.forum/news/music-sales-slide/#post-148713 Tue, 03 Jan 2006 03:41:26 +0000
I laugh at the FBI anti-piracy warning on CDs too. Doesn't the FBI have more important things to worry about *cough* terrorism.

I haven't bought a CD in over a year now. I think I'll stick to garage sales and pawnshops if I buy any for now on. Unless you're a local artist I would buy your CD at full price.]]> News Ghost https://guitarnoise.forum/news/music-sales-slide/#post-148713