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[compasspnt]

Received from my old friend Phillip Rauls:

Friday, January 14, 2011
The Worst-Selling Number One Record In History...


The long way down for the recording industry has hit another nadir. Just this week, Taylor Swift's Speak Now landed atop the album charts in the US, hardly a surprise for this artist.  But what's surprising is that the accomplishment happened on sales of just 52,000, according to Nielsen Soundscan.  That is the worst sales amount for a top-ranked album since Soundscan started tracking album sales in 1991.
   
Of course, this a threshold that will probably be broken in the future, though it stands in such stark contrast to the good old days.  On the polar extreme, 'N Sync scored the highest-ever one-week sales total of 2.42 million in 2001 with No Strings Attached.  That, probably more than any other event, symbolizes the glorious peak of a recording industry now gone.  

[bigaudioblowhard]

whoa!

bab

[faganking]

W O W ! ! !

[tom eaton]

That record has sold more than 1.4 million units and was in the number one position in November...

Perhaps it led a particular week with 52,000 units, but that's not the whole story!

http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1651940/taylor-swift-domina tes-charts-again-with-speak-now.jhtml

t

[Unwinder]

Hmm. Maybe it typifies "how" some hits/records are sold these days. Maybe not!

[Tidewater]

compasspnt wrote on Tue, 18 January 2011 21:33

Of course, this a threshold that will probably be broken in the future, though it stands in such stark contrast to the good old days.

Yes! There is still hope!

Uhmm.. the idea is that was #1 this week. It's not about overall sales. 52k in a week. It's possible the top ten sold around 100k total.

I have to say I am surprised. I keep underestimating the end of civilization... and the soundtrack is Taylor Swift.

So be it.

Release the kraken.

[Edward Vinatea]

compasspnt wrote on Tue, 18 January 2011 21:33

Received from my old friend Phillip Rauls: Friday, January 14, 2011 The Worst-Selling Number One Record In History... The long way down for the recording industry has hit another nadir. Just this week, Taylor Swift's Speak Now landed atop the album charts in the US, hardly a surprise for this artist.  But what's surprising is that the accomplishment happened on sales of just 52,000, according to Nielsen Soundscan.  That is the worst sales amount for a top-ranked album since Soundscan started tracking album sales in 1991.     Of course, this a threshold that will probably be broken in the future, though it stands in such stark contrast to the good old days.  On the polar extreme, 'N Sync scored the highest-ever one-week sales total of 2.42 million in 2001 with No Strings Attached.  That, probably more than any other event, symbolizes the glorious peak of a recording industry now gone.

Signs of the times.

Edward

[zmix]

...in the days of heavy Payola I wonder how many records there were which hit  #1 without the sales figures to support the ranking....?

[Wireline]

Payola (in past or present forms) aside, that is some serious stuff.  If 52K is the sales figure for the #1 song, what are the sales figures for the #10, the #50, etc?

And knowing these figures, what is the financial motivation for artists to keep entering the market?  


If nothing else, seems as if the age of question of art vs commerce is being answered as we go.

[wwittman]

Not just artistes
Why should anyone INVEST in a record?
Why pay studios and producers and engineers and musicians and arrangers for free giveaways?


In the mid 80s a 1.5 million selling album MIGHT have cracked top 30

[Bill Mueller]

Meanwhile,

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ipod_sales_per_quarter.svg

Nearly 275 MILLION iPods sold in the last five years, and an average of 50 MILLION a year right now. And most of those iPods are still functioning considering the price of used iPods is pretty stable on Ebay.

Not counting the hundreds of other music players on the market.

Where do all these players get their music? Hmm, I wonder?

 http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/pe rsonal_tech/article4144585.ece

Follow the money.

Best regards,

Bill

[Bob Olhsson]

Where is an artist going to play 200 shows a year today as was typical before the mid 1960s and how many would be willing to do that in order to pay the bills if they could?

[Tidewater]

Interesting.

Mr Sharkey said: “The positive message is that 80 per cent of downloaders said they would pay for a legal subscription-based service, and they told us they would be willing to pay more than a few pounds a month.”

That is BS too. You see how they option was offered, and people will always claim to have done the right thing 'if it was easy'.

I just snipped a 3000 word rant about distributed audio, and how elevator music made it into toilets in space. It's a wonder anyone cares at all.

Thank me.

[DarinK]

This week's number one album is even worse selling than last week's.  Cake's new one sold 44,000 copies.

Legal downloads of Britney Spears' new single were 411,000.

http://www.billboard.com/news#/news/cake-scores-lowest-selli ng-no-1-album-in-1004139371.story

[DarinK]

From the above-linked article:

"Overall album sales in this past chart week (ending Jan. 16) totaled 4.9 million units, down 11% compared with the sum last week (5.4 million) and down 15% compared with the comparable sales week of 2010 (5.7 million). Year-to-date album sales stand at 10.3 million, an 11% drop compared with the same total at this point last year (11.6 million).

Digital track sales this past week totaled 27.5 million downloads, down 8% compared with last week (29.8 million) and 8% stacked next to the comparable week of 2010 (25.4 million). Year-to-date track sales are at 57.2 million, up 8% compared with the same total at this point last year (52.9 million)."