What Does this headline mean/say to you?
STUDY: 85% OF ALL TRACKS RELEASED IN 2008 DID NOT SELL EVEN ONE COPY...
Here are a few random thoughts that popped into my cavernous mind on reading that.
A.) Duh . . . Most music just blows.
B.) Duh . . . of course it didn't sell cuz it was stolen/pirated
C.) Duh . . . People are only interested in buying Kanye records
D.) Duh . . . what do you expect when you let amature and hobbyist musicians put their music in online stores next great artists like Kanye.
E.) Duh . . . music continues to have the worst effort to payoff ratio of anything you can do with your time. Besides listening to Kanye.
F.) Duh . . . this obviously doesn't include indie artists. Or does it? Who knows - the article isn't clear. WTF?
G.) Duh . . . now I can't wait to begin working on my next internet music release!
H.) Duh . . . you say Duh too much.
Original article HERE
What thoughts bounce into YOUR cavernous mind?
COMMENTS ALSO HAPPENING ON MYSPACE
Comments
its obviously all kanyes fault.
Posted by: Chris | December 22, 2008 11:37 AM
well Duh.
;)
Posted by: Jeff Schmidt | December 22, 2008 11:46 AM
A for sure, and possibly some of B...but I think the music industry right now could be a microcosm of the consumerist society in general; we are in the midst of a massive evolution/revolution in how money changes hands in our world, and it's going to be interesting to see what transpires.
Regarding B, not all that unsold music can possibly suck...there's probably a marketing factor in there too. Which brings us right back to exploitive industry needing to help the artists while they get fat off of them. Sad state.
That, and kanye.
Posted by: Twitchy67 | December 22, 2008 11:46 AM
I'd also be interested in finding out how much of the music that IS marketed, sells enough to cover the marketing costs.
Posted by: Jeff Schmidt | December 22, 2008 12:43 PM
If someone made me a MIXED TAPE in this day and age, I'd be really impressed and awe inspired.
Posted by: LMX | December 22, 2008 03:14 PM
that obviously deserves another Duh.
thanks LMX!
Posted by: Jeff Schmidt | December 22, 2008 03:35 PM
(cross posted from Myspace):
85% of TRACKS. Does that mean:
a) that people only download the good tracks off an 'album'? (great news for those of us who hate filler material)
b) that you STILL have to market stuff - any moron who thinks 'making things available on iTunes' means people will magically find it is clearly on 'shrooms. No-one finds music 'because it's good'. They find it cos someone points them to it with a story that makes the 5 minutes of listening worth committing to...
c) how much of that 85% is undiscovered gems, and how much is unmittigated pureed labrador testicles? The news that people aren't downloading god-awful music is cause for celebration, surely? (Kanye notwithstanding)
d) I'm still selling CDs and downloads, even though everything of mine can be listened to for free online, and lots of it can be downloaded. I'm sure you are too. Why? discuss. :)
e) stay out of the 85%, into the 15%, and all is good. those aren't bad odds when you've got talent on your side.
Cheer up you miserable squid. It's all good. honestly ;)
Posted by: Steve Lawson | December 24, 2008 09:24 AM
Steve -
I agree with B.
Re: albums - From the article:
" For albums, the figures were even more stark. Of the 1.23 million available, only 173,000 were ever bought, meaning 85 per cent did not sell a single copy all year."
Obviously makes a strong case for filter / curation that you and I have both spoken about. But that appears to be happening already.
Artists have ALWAYS had to cut through the clutter to "make it". There's just exponentially more clutter now.
Someone pointed out that the long tail isn't dead cuz 173,000 albums sold at least 1 copy.
I'm not sure how that compares historically, but I know in the hey day of record stores, the stock was certainly well under 173,000 albums. That's the long tail.
As for the other 1.1 million unsold albums - well . . . maybe there are "gems" in there as you suggest/hope - but who the hell has enough time / interest to find out?
Posted by: Jeff Schmidt | December 24, 2008 10:44 AM