Comments on: What Do Album Sales Measure?

By: Mic Mell

Mic Mell — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 14:52:17 +0000

Wow, Gareth.

That is powerful and moving…..

By: gareth farry

gareth farry — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 05:47:14 +0000

The web is saturated with articles and blogs about the death of the music industry & what Madonna, Radiohead and the like in collusion with web 2.0 digital models and P2P sites are doing to the industry … “killing it”?
But this IS the new industry … a place where the majority of content is created and consumed for free, where the creativity embodied on your musical content IS the value attributed to it.
A place where the merit in music conquers all. Or at least in the years to come it will.
It is my absolute belief that “where music leads all else will follow” .. that is the breakdown of the commercial music industry to elements of trade, file sharing, swapping & purchase will one day encompass our whole online commercial structure.
Merit and creative truth will rule, meaningless content (read “pop”) will simply become ignored meaninglessness, and it will struggle for any traction.

The sharing and spread across digital platforms of all online services and products will occur, with value being judged by merit. This will occur whether we are talking about a music track, a new product or a simple day to day service.
Advertisers will no longer be able to saturate our TV screens with useless products and thinly veiled lies about necessity – purchase value & immediacy will be decided by the purchaser.

ok, …. deeper : the human mind is a spark of the almighty consciousness of the creator, imagination and creativity are the doors from which this consciousness emerges.
As human minds develop further and become more fully tuned to the nature of spirit, by stopping thought, abandoning knowledge & trusting intuition, creativity also becomes more fully tuned to this truth. That is, music / knowledge / content / product is freed from the shackles of blind commercialism, prejudice or banality will simply cut through and gain traction by the simple fact of its creative merit.
The deeper the self realization of a person and his/her creativity, the more he/she influences the whole universe by subtle creative vibrations.

Silence is the potent carrier of the present tense. Every sound or action comes from silence & dies back into the ocean of silence.

Death to the music industry, long live the industry of creativity.

By: Mic Mell

Mic Mell — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 14:02:33 +0000

Paul,

Thanks for your comment. Keep in mind that when you buy CDs like new and used, artists don’t get royalties.

-M

By: Mark In Irvine

Mark In Irvine — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 03:43:32 +0000

I still buy albums. I buy them because I want the artwork, the lyrics, the “backup” copy. I buy to support the artists that I enjoy. I also buy what appeals to be in the record shop – I browse certain sections that interest me (world, for example), and when I see something that looks intriguing, I buy. I’ve ended up with a few stinkers, sure, but more often or not I get what I pay for: a new experience, exposure to a new (for me) artist, and a broader collection of music. Some outlets (Borders comes to mind) have a feature that lets me list to snippets (or more) from the CD tracks, and if something that I try out this way (having first been led to it by the album art or something else on the box that grabs me) bears up to listening, I buy. Free on-line music was interesting for a while, but nothing replaces browsing and flipping through the CD boxes.

By: Canaan

Canaan — Sun, 04 Nov 2007 20:29:15 +0000

Right! I’ve even paid for videos on ITunes after I had a high quality free copy — we spend to reward excellence. It helps when a band knows how to make a psuedo-personal connection with their on-line tools. “These are good people, they deserve my support” is a sentiment that will get my Amex out. It’s a real art to get people invested in the band.

It’s probably not uniquely American, but I do think American consumers like to reward companies when they do it right. Culturally we know that, collectively, we get what we pay for. I think that is capitalistic.

By: Jerry

Jerry — Sun, 04 Nov 2007 19:54:14 +0000

I’m not going to speak for others, but you have hit the nail on the head as far as my emerging buying habits are concerned. I will support people I want to support. It could be a musical artist, it could involve giving a kid a used computer for school, or it could mean helping someone with utility bills. I don’t care about tax deductions or, in the case of music, whether I’ve paid for something I already have. Buying music for me today transcends exchange. A lot of things for me are beginning to transcend the notion of exchange … perhaps this is part of the post-capitalist era you are referring to …

By: A different matt

A different matt — Sun, 04 Nov 2007 19:47:04 +0000

I like your analysis but disagree with your conclusion: “The Bottom Line: Album sales no longer measure marketing ability or brand placement, they measure people’s love of the music.”

Just because music is pushed down to the masses from on high doesn’t mean marketing and placement no longer plays a role. It’s just that that role has been decentralized.

I think this: “Sales dynamics and trends for non-major label releases follow a completely different set of rules than mainstream music sales do. Mega-Artists that are joining the ranks of independent musicians aren’t breaking new ground as much as they are creating a public awareness of the way the music business works for most of the artists in it. For those of us in the trenches of our careers, they are putting a spotlight on how we do business.” is more a testament of our Orwellian practice of “free markets” than it is of some new business paradigm.

It turns out people have a more diverse taste in music than Sony is comfortable with. Now that people aren’t reliant upon a few large corporations for their music, it’s going to take more than Jay-Z or Justin Timberlake to sustain an industry with their layers upon layers of management and middlemen. Large corporations are simply inefficient when producers have no logistical or administrative or legal roadblocks to their consumers.

That’s my unsolicited .02.

By: Paul

Paul — Sun, 04 Nov 2007 19:08:43 +0000

I agree with a lot you say.

Plus, I don’t have an IPOD, I don’t listen to music walking around the city, I don’t wan’t to go to the trouble of downloading music or filling up my hard drive.

I buy CD’s of music that is really important to me and I play at home or in the car. I like to collect them. The new way is of no interest to me at all.

By the way I get CDs very cheap on line. “LIke new” and “Used” CDs are very affordable and I have been completely satisfied with the quality.

Paul in MInneapolis