Gee, that MIGHT be true, were online sales more than a mere trickle beside CD sales, which are down. John Willkie ----- Original Message ----- From: "Craig Birkmaier" <craig@xxxxxxxxx> To: "OpenDTV Mail List" <opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Monday, March 26, 2007 6:11 AM Subject: [opendtv] News: The Album, a Commodity in Disfavor > Could this be the REAL reason that CD sales are dropping like a rock? > > Craig > > > > http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/26/business/media/26music.html?th=&emc=th&pagewanted=all > > > The Album, a Commodity in Disfavor > > By JEFF LEEDS > > Published: March 26, 2007 > > LOS ANGELES, March 25 - Now that the three young women in Candy Hill, > a glossy rap and R&B trio, have signed a record contract, they are > hoping for stardom. On the schedule: shooting a music video and > visiting radio stations to talk up their music. > > But the women do not have a CD to promote. Universal/Republic > Records, their label, signed Candy Hill to record two songs, not a > complete album. > > "If we get two songs out, we get a shot," said Vatana Shaw, 20, who > formed the trio four years ago, "Only true fans are buying full > albums. Most people don't really do that anymore." > > To the regret of music labels everywhere, she is right: fans are > buying fewer and fewer full albums. In the shift from CDs to digital > music, buyers can now pick the individual songs they like without > having to pay upward of $10 for an album. > > Last year, digital singles outsold plastic CD's for the first time. > So far this year, sales of digital songs have risen 54 percent, to > roughly 189 million units, according to data from Nielsen SoundScan. > Digital album sales are rising at a slightly faster pace, but buyers > of digital music are purchasing singles over albums by a margin of 19 > to 1. > > Because of this shift in listener preferences - a trend reflected > everywhere from blogs posting select MP3s to reviews of singles in > Rolling Stone - record labels are coming to grips with the loss of > the album as their main product and chief moneymaker. > > In response, labels are re-examining everything from their marketing > practices to their contracts. One result is that offers are cropping > up for artists like Candy Hill to record only ring tones or a clutch > of singles, according to talent managers and lawyers. > > At the same time, the industry is straining to shore up the album as > long as possible, in part by prodding listeners who buy one song to > purchase the rest of a collection. Apple, in consultation with > several labels, has been planning to offer iTunes users credit for > songs they have already purchased if they then choose to buy the > associated album in a certain period of time, according to people > involved in the negotiations. (Under Apple's current practice, > customers who buy a song and then the related album effectively pay > for the song twice). > > But some analysts say they doubt that such promotions can reverse the trend. > > "I think the album is going to die," said Aram Sinnreich, managing > partner at Radar Research, a media consulting firm based in Los > Angeles. "Consumers are listening to play lists," or mixes of single > songs from an assortment of different artists. "Consumers who have > had iPods since they were in the single digits are going to > increasingly gravitate toward artists who embrace that." > > All this comes as the industry's long sales slide has been > accelerating. Sales of albums, in either disc or digital form, have > dropped more than 16 percent so far this year, a slide that > executives attribute to an unusually weak release schedule and > shrinking retail floor space for music. Even though sales of > individual songs - sold principally through iTunes - are rising, it > has not been nearly enough to compensate. > > Many music executives dispute the idea that the album will disappear. > In particular, they say, fans of jazz, classical, opera and certain > rock (bands like Radiohead and Tool) will demand album-length > listening experiences for many years to come. But for other genres - > including some strains of pop music, rap, R&B and much of country - > where sales success is seen as closely tied to radio air play of > singles, the album may be entering its twilight. > > "For some genres and some artists, having an album-centric plan will > be a thing of the past," said Jeff Kempler, chief operating officer > of EMI's Capitol Music Group. While the traditional album provides > value to fans, he said, "perpetuating a business model that fixates > on a particular packaged product configuration is inimical to what > the Internet enables, and it's inimical to what many consumers have > clearly voted for." > > Another solution being debated in the industry would transform > record labels into de facto fan clubs. Companies including the Warner > Music Group and the EMI Group have been considering a system in which > fans would pay a fee, perhaps monthly, to "subscribe" to their > favorite artists and receive a series of recordings, videos and other > products spaced over time. > > Executives maintain that they must establish more lasting connections > with fans who may well lose interest if forced to wait two years or > more before their favorite artist releases new music. > > A decade ago, the music industry had all but stopped selling music in > individual units. But now, four years after Apple introduced its > iTunes service - selling singles for 99 cents apiece and full albums > typically for $9.99 - individual songs account for roughly two-thirds > of all music sales volume in the United States. And that does not > count purchases of music in other, bite-size forms like ring tones, > which have sold more than 54 million units so far this year, > according to Nielsen data. > > One of the biggest reasons for the shift, analysts say, is that > consumers - empowered to cherry-pick - are forgoing album purchases > after years of paying for complete CD's with too few songs they like. > There are still cases where full albums succeed - the Red Hot Chili > Peppers' double-CD "Stadium Arcadium," with a weighty 28 tracks, has > sold almost two million copies. But the overall pie is shrinking. > > In some ways, the current climate recalls the 1950s and to some > extent, the 60s, when many popular acts sold more singles than > albums. It took greatly influential works like The Beatles' "Sgt. > Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" and the Beach Boys' "Pet Sounds" to > turn the album into pop music's medium of choice. > > But the music industry's cost structure is far higher than it was > when Bob Dylan picked up an electric guitar. Today's costs - from > television ads and music videos to hefty executive salaries - are > still built on blockbuster albums. > > Hence the emergence of scaled-back deals with acts like Candy Hill. > Labels have signed new performers to singles deals before, typically > to release what they viewed as ephemeral or novelty hits. Now, > executives at Universal say, such arrangements will become more > common for even quality acts because the single itself is the end > product. > > With Candy Hill, Universal paid a relatively small advance - > described as being in "five figures" - to cover recording expenses. > Ms. Shaw, who formed the group with Casha Darjean and Ociris Gomez, > said the members had kept their day jobs working at an insurance > company and doing other vocal work to be able to pay the rent at the > house where they live together. > > If one of their songs turns into a big hit, they hope to release a > full album, and to tap other income sources, like touring and > merchandise sales. > > But turning a song into a hit does not appear to be getting any easier. > > Ron Shapiro, an artist manager and former president of Atlantic > Records, asked, "What are the Las Vegas odds of constantly having a > 'Bad Day?' " - referring to a tune by the singer Daniel Powter that > sold more than two million copies after it was used on "American > Idol." > > While music labels labor to build careers for artists that are suited > for albums, he added, "You have to create an almost hysterical pace > to find hits to sell as digital downloads and ring tones that > everybody's going to want. It's scary." > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > You can UNSUBSCRIBE from the OpenDTV list in two ways: > > - Using the UNSUBSCRIBE command in your user configuration settings at FreeLists.org > > - By sending a message to: opendtv-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word unsubscribe in the subject line. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- You can UNSUBSCRIBE from the OpenDTV list in two ways: - Using the UNSUBSCRIBE command in your user configuration settings at FreeLists.org - By sending a message to: opendtv-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word unsubscribe in the subject line.