Interesting Statistics about (Legal) Music Downloads

[Kazrog]

Marketing guru Seth Godin's latest post:

http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2009/10/less-than-zero.html

The long tail is real, but sometimes the longest parts reach underwater. When there's enough choices, it means that some things will never get picked.


Charles Blow reports in the NY Times that:
"A study last year conducted by members of PRS for Music, a nonprofit royalty collection agency, found that of the 13 million songs for sale online last year, 10 million never got a single buyer and 80 percent of all revenue came from about 52,000 songs. That’s less than one percent of the songs."


The internet has allowed ease of entry into the market. You can advertise anything, any service, any good, any piece of junk in your garage--essentially for zero. You can go into business effortlessly, telling yourself you'll just hang out on the long tail and do just fine. Understand that zero is a very real probability, perhaps even a likelihood. Derek reminds us that 0% of a really big number is still zero.


What direct marketers have always understood is that you must make something work in the small before you bet the farm and market it to the masses. If you can't sell to 1 in 1000, why market to a million?

I have seen this first hand too many times. There is so much music out there now, that it's literally impossible for every artist to reach an audience. The trick I guess, is to stand out, somehow.

 

[GarethSE]

And here is why I give any music I make away for free

 

[Jeds7800]

Maybe I should just go ahead and charge a negative amount...then people might download them.

 

[Fox Mulder]

The quality of music has degraded over the years, and that's why I don't buy shit.

IMO Led Zeppelin tracks are worth buying, but the stuff that come out today - wtf. I can compose music for myself using those cliched riff, you know.

 

[Erkan]

Music has certainly dropped in quality over the years. It's been dumbed down to the point where it's as easy to make a song as it is to make fucking pancakes... they all follow the same recipe.

However, there are still a few golden bands out there that, despite this, make kick ass music even in today's pissy industry.

 

[Fox Mulder]

Music has certainly dropped in quality over the years. It's been dumbed down to the point where it's as easy to make a song as it is to make fucking pancakes... they all follow the same recipe.

However, there are still a few golden bands out there that, despite this, make kick ass music even in today's pissy industry.

Paramore is definitely worth buying

 

[Chryst Krispies]

Music has certainly dropped in quality over the years. It's been dumbed down to the point where it's as easy to make a song as it is to make fucking pancakes... they all follow the same recipe.

I disagree with this statement.

 

[Line666]

I disagree with this statement.

Big +1

 

[Fifth_Horseman]

I believe there's still as much or more awesome music being created today as has been before. Probably more.

It's just that every hack can put his shit on the internet today and the market is flooded with it. It might be harder to find the good stuff beneath everything else, but there's so much quality out there if you care to look for it.
Twenty years ago, everybody and their mum already had a guitar and created boring cliche songs with three chords... only to be heard in their bedrooms. Nowadays, those types record it and put it on youtube and myspace for the world to hear.

 

[Sacha]

I think there's just too many people on earth really Seriously there are so many awesome bands...I sometimes forget about a band and then re-discover them later and am amazed! And I'm a music lover...Strange times.

 

[egan.]

+2. If your standard for whether you are going to buy something is led fucking zeplin I don't know what to tell you. That's like saying no movie that isn't on the AFI top 100 is worth watching. At 30 years old there is still at least one record a year that totally blows me away and far more that I get a ton of enjoyment from. Bitter-old-man-syndrome is silly.

Back on topic. This is what I have been saying for years. By eliminating the "gate keepers" (labels) of music releases we have actually made them more important than ever before because now you have to market the shit out of things to get them off the ocean floor (and overcome the illegal d/l sales hit).
You can argue that labels were ruining everything but it's clear that it is functionally impossible to sort through an unfiltered music scene.

 

[KeithTidd]

This isn't really new. Before digital downloads there were thousands of cd's that didn't sell anything, and there were a select few that sold the majority of all sales in one year.

 

[Erkan]

I disagree with this statement.

Great Did I tell you not to?

Some people like everything they hear, some don't. Some are real assholes who think most stuff is crap. I'm one of them. Bands like Gojira, Strapping Young Lad/Devin Townsend and Decapitated have fucked with my standards so much that it's not even funny anymore. If I don't feel that "special feeling" which I do from those bands, I never get into the music I'm listening to. Sure, I can think it's alright music and all, or even good, but it just doesn't stick with me and thus not worth buying if I'm never gonna listen to it.

And by the way, I was actually not even referring to metal releases when I said that music is getting dumber and dumber. I was primarily referring to the mainstream music that we're fed through radio and TV. But then again... I might just as well refer it to metal too because there really is SO much shit that just should not be released at all for the sake of humanity (and to avoid clutter the fucking internetZ!).

This was an elaboration of my original post, but it's aim is not to defend myself or to start a forum nerd war against someone else. I admit I'm a cold bitch when it comes to picking music, and this is how I feel... that's it

 

[Metaltastic]

YOU GO GIRL

 

[Sweetnothing]

This isn't really new. Before digital downloads there were thousands of cd's that didn't sell anything, and there were a select few that sold the majority of all sales in one year.

And that's related to promotion.
That's why, even though I don't like piracy, I can't trust that's the reason for industry breakage.
They manufacture hits that sell a lot, then move on to another product.

 

[egan.]

This was an elaboration of my original post, but it's aim is not to defend myself or to start a forum nerd war against someone else. I admit I'm a cold bitch when it comes to picking music, and this is how I feel... that's it

I think what people are disputing is the supposed drop off in quality. I think everyone here is enough of a snob to believe that 99% of bands at any given time are at best unremarkable.

And that's related to promotion.
That's why, even though I don't like piracy, I can't trust that's the reason for industry breakage.
They manufacture hits that sell a lot, then move on to another product.

And while I agree with the first part of your statement I would argue that piracy would be much lower if people didn't still actually want the music. If you really don't want something you are no more likely to steal it than to buy it. The fact is that sales are going down but consumption is going up.

 

[Chryst Krispies]

I think what people are disputing is the supposed drop off in quality. I think everyone here is enough of a snob to believe that 99% of bands at any given time are at best unremarkable.

This is my point.

@ Erkan
I was just saying I disagree, you didn't need to elaborate, I understood you from the beginning, I just disagree.

 

[NickL]

I was going to go on a rant about how there has always been lousy music and there still exists good music but I stopped myself.

 

[Erkan]

This is my point.

@ Erkan
I was just saying I disagree, you didn't need to elaborate, I understood you from the beginning, I just disagree.

Cool!

 

[Sweetnothing]

And while I agree with the first part of your statement I would argue that piracy would be much lower if people didn't still actually want the music. If you really don't want something you are no more likely to steal it than to buy it. The fact is that sales are going down but consumption is going up.

Yes, but what kind of public? I mean (most of) the people that are downloading a lots of tracks, go for the commercial/disposable kinda music. I truly believe that people doesn't appreciate music as we do, I mean, they listen to it but not at the level we do.
I buy albums pretty much every weekend, just because I love it, but those guys just want the big single of the month on their mp3 player/phone.

I am generalizing, of course, but I see it like that. If you love music, you buy albums just because of it.