Album sales

[Symphony]

SALES NUMBERS THAT DON'T IMPRESS:

Industry commentator Bob Lefsetz mentioned a few sales numbers for the USA Billboard Top 200+ in a newsletter earlier today. A few numbers included are of interest to readers here. My thoughts follow the stats:

#81. Cult Choice Of Weapon / Sales this week: 1,381 Percentage change: -24 Total Sales To Date: 20,435 Overall rank: 538 - Not the greatest number considering the publicity surrounding this release. There's been plenty. Personally I am finding the album hard to get into, but reinforces just how much I dig Sonic Temple.

#112. Lita Ford Living Like A Runaway / Sales this week: 911; Debut; Overall rank: 868 - Wow...I expected better as it's a strong album. It will sell better in Europe where SPV has a stronger hold. But on reflection, it would seem that Lita killed her name in the USA with the woeful Wicked Wonderland.

#169. L.A. Guns Hollywood Forever / Sales this week: 609; Percentage change: -23; Total Sales To Date: 2,976 - Another crappy number for a once higher profile name. Whatever the reason, there is no way 3000 units pays for producer Andy Johns' efforts.

And for the record, of the 75,000 albums released in 2010 only 2,000 sold more than 5,000 copies. Only 1,000 sold more than 10,000 copies. Interesting stats. That's 73,000 releases selling under 5,000 copies.

 

[Powerray]

well that's usa, i think album sales in europe are still good, especially in the rock/metal scene

 

[Andiferum]

That's just the market nowadays. We should also look at the fact that before the current era, there was no feasible way for many thousands of those releases to even enter the market without backing from a major label. The more you saturate a market, the more it'll spread out the sales (regardless of how many or few). I'm kind of thankful that we live in an era where it's possible for genuinely talented bands to get their material heard without requiring the gatekeepers' permission!

 

[Power_Metal_Dom]

Earlier on I was thinking back to when I was a kid and I would spend pocket money on singles from HMV. Utterly foreign concept these days where bands and labels have to forsake money (a single back then would've been anywhere between £3-5) in exchange for publicity. Sure there'd normally be a radio single from an upcoming release but you'd hear it and be compelled to go out and buy it (taping the hits off the radio onto a cassette was an option but there'd be interrupts and bad quality) whereas these days you've got a digital, perfect copy out there getting thousands of views on YouTube and noone needs to go out and part with their cash.

I don't know. I can see big reasons to put out tracks free of charge / allowing users to upload tracks for increased exposure but I think consumers are taking advantage of what is an exceptional act of good faith by artists & labels. In an age of MP3 players I don't think we'll see or even prefer a return to the days of the CD single but I'm stuck in a mindset where every time I see bands put out tracks for free I see all those lost fivers...

 

[Symphony]

It's interesting.....I was out and about in Nottingham last night and was chatting in a pub with a guy who turned out to be a PQ fan. He said "Wow....you must be rolling in it now eh? 5 albums out and all that"

If only eh?

The sad reality is that as tour support gets cut and recording advances get cut......bands are increasingly forced to pay for said activities themselves. I know for a fact that sales for us never even cover the costs of recording and touring so it ultimately begs the question.....do you do something you love irrespective of how much debt it generates? What is the actual point of being signed to a label? How does giving your music away for free help you when you then can't afford the logistics of going on tour?


I guess the Pledge music/Kickstarter type approach is the way forward......if there isn't sufficient demand then the project doesn't happen. It can't be a "vanity" thing....it all has to have sound business decisions being made in the background

 

[1928]

Such a depressing subject these days, but alas, it's an unavoidable one. I really do think the kickstarter/pledgemusic thing is the way to go, personally... Not only is it working for Timo Tolkki, but it worked for Kevin Moore's last album, and plenty of unsigned, very small-time artists over the last few years (I've seen plenty of instances of this on Mike Portnoy's message board, working for some of the members themselves). It would be very interesting to see something like that become the primary method of funding music in the future... Especially because those who pledge get the album, so you know exactly how many people will be getting it.