Chartwatch extra: album sales new low

[SPRΞΞ]

i was browsing through Kesha's album on iTunes today, and since i had already bought 3 of her singles, i could "complete" the album for like $3. I would MUCH rather do that than cherrypick the rest of her upcoming singles.

I have no quams about spending $6 or $7 on an album at all, but any higher than that, and i'll be cherrypicking.

[pnobelysk]

^ the only time i ever really buy albums is when i have several singles off them and then they go on salee and then complete the album :)

[$uperb@tDuDe]

$5 for digital albums would make a huge impact.

[SPRΞΞ]

^it would also mean more certifications.

[badrobot]

I think there has been a pretty clear lesson that any time record labels try to *force* customer behavior (deliberately withholding commercial singles in the 90s/early 00s, creating "album only" tracks, etc.), it has eventually backfired. It may work briefly at first but people find another way around it to get what they want and in the process you've now taught people that cheating the system via illegal downloading or whatever is an easier process than just buying the music directly.

In general I think we are seeing a shift for all things downloadable where people do not see why they should have to pay for it. It's the same thing as apps for iPhones -- games and software used to be $50 or more when you bought them in a store, now people see the same game or software as an app and think $4.99 is ridiculously expensive.

I don't know if there would have been anyway to avoid this mindset that "downloadable = should be dirt cheap or free" but it's sticking around and realistically you're not going to make a lot of money from selling downloadable entertainment online. In the music world at this point I think we're just shifting more and more toward recorded music as promotion for tours and merchandise and as license-able material for movies, TV shows, and commercials.

This is really not THAT crazy, by the way. Media-based products often make zero or minimal profit based on the purchase of the media itself (think free TV shows and newspapers) and rake in most of their money by selling ads or merchandise. Music is just heading more and more that way as well.

[grandelf]

Aug 24, 2010 14:58:28 GMT -5 @dbt88 said:

There are still people out there who are willing to shelve out ten dollars for an album. So stop trying to sensationalize this album sales are down because we've heard that year after year now.

Yet each year since 2007 weekly album sales keep hitting a new low, always below a particular million each year. So those people are clearly evaporating and nothing is going to stop weekly sales going below 4 million in 2011.

[dbt88]

^^ Exactly my point. Album sales are going down every year. Then we get reports every year how album sales are at an all time low. Music isn't dying. The physical sales are. I'm just saying, as long as there are still millions of people buying albums in a week, the CD is gonna be here to stay for now.