Tag Archive for 'Report'

Sales Figures Do Not Tell the Future

Published on January 14, 2008 in Article and Blog. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , , .

Spotted on: CNET
Trent Reznor released sales numbers for the new Saul Williams release on his blog. The album “The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of NiggyTardust” was produced and released by the Nine Inch Nails mastermind with a forward thinking model: Download the album for free, or pay $5 for a higher quality MP3 version (a la Radiohead). According to the numbers released, approximately 18% of the downloads were sales.

This number is likely slightly lower than reality. There is no information to measure how many people downloaded the album for free then went back and bought it. CNET interviewed both Trent Reznor and Saul Williams, and their opinions are quite different.

The album has been out for two months, and the major campaign of videos and touring begins in the next few weeks. The album sold almost 30,000 downloads and gave away another 120,000 with almost no marketing campaign, and no publicist. Although the album hasn’t gone digitally platinum, this experiment is a positive sign. Williams’ music does not neatly fit into a pigeonhole. While the sales model is similar to Radiohead’s In Rainbows (which is no longer available as a free download), these two artists are not in the same position, and the IRLNT test will be a gauge of what mid level artist can expect from this model, at least for this year.
Having 20% of your listeners buy your album may not seem like a large amount, but it’s hard to measure who they are, how they know Saul Williams, and whether they were pre-existing fans or not. Consider that an album’s life span is long – upwards of two years, and over the next eight to ten months we will see how this model works when promotions are put into play.
Bottom Line: Whether or not this model of selling albums works is still unclear. As time passes, and more artists try this model, we will see whether audiences will pay for something they can get for free.

The Major Labels Are Crying Wolf

Published on October 30, 2007 in Blog. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , .

Spotted on: The Long Tail

Chris Anderson deserves a parade in his honor.

This brilliant post completely uncompresses the major label view of the music business with the actual music business.

“…it appears that every single part of the music industry except the sale of compact discs is up.

  • Concerts and merchandise: UP (+4%)
  • Digital tracks: UP (+46%)
  • Ringtones: UP (+86% last year, but probably just single-digit percent this year)
  • Licensing for commercials, TV shows, movies and videogames: UP (Warner Music saw licensing grow by about $20 million over the past year)
  • Even vinyl singles (think DJs): UP (more than doubled in the UK)
  • And, if you include the iPod in the music industry, as I’d argue a fair-minded analysis would: UP, UP, UP! (+31% this year)”

With statistical data to back up the claim, it’s clear that all the hoopla around the death of the music industry is a death cry form major labels. They could revamp their business models, and in fact they could have ten years ago when they knew this was coming. It’s as if these major companies have absolutely no relationship to reality.

The end of Chris’s article seems almost directed to this blog: “…for those who say that this avenue [giving away all music free] is only available to artists at the head of the curve…I’d point out that the other group poorly served by the labels are those at the bottom of the curve…”

As the major labels fail and become some new form of entertainment companies (most likely a clearinghouse for content or booking agencies), music will lose almost all of its value. Once we (the audience) are no longer pressured to buy, or told we are criminals for our actions, music will begin to regain its value.

While touring and swag are viable outlets for artists to generate revenue, the question becomes: where can smaller artists play, and is gigging still viable?

What is your take on the state of music sales, given this exciting and inspirational update on sales figures?

Why Radio Sucks, and Why It’s Nothing New

Published on July 13, 2006 in Article and Blog. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , .

Check out this article from www.salon.com, from back in 2001, when physical CD sales were at their peak.

Pay for Play - By Eric Boehlert, 14 March 2001

Is it any wonder that the record industry has completely lost touch with reality?

This is yet another clear reason why most of the great music is in the ‘underground’.? These transnational media conglomerates are calling anyone who doesn’t play by their rules underground.

Although this article doesn’t touch on the different and equally frustrating work of charting on college radio, it’s the best summary I’ve seen yet of why most artists should never expect to make it onto Big Coast Mountain Rock Kiss Hot Love Classics FM, where they’re bringing you all the hits money can buy, all the time.

With the explosion of podcasting, interweb radio, file sharing, and ipods, Mainstream terrestrial and satellite radio has been all but pulled from the hands of the masses.

(This is another great reason to sign up for our Polyvibe Podcast if you haven’t already, too).

We’re not the only one to discount Jupiter Research’s research…

Published on July 7, 2006 in Blog. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , , .

In preparation for a recent blog post, marketing blogger Toby Bloomberg, asked for more information about the methodolgies behind their Corporate Blogging report. The report wildly claimed that by the end of 2006 70% of corporations will have a corporate blog. Considering that the number of Fortune 500 companies with blogs hovers at around 6%, Toby questioned how they added up all the numbers. At first, JupiterResearch was going to honor the request, but decided:

“After looking at your blog link JupiterResearch has decided not to fulfill your request for more information since the blog is closely tied with your company that serves as a consultancy. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you this earlier, I didn’t realize that your company and blog were so closely affiliated.”

So on one hand, JupiterResearch extols the virtues of corporate blogging, but decided to shut out Toby Bloomberg for not being a credible source of information about JupiterResearch.
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again… Take what JupiterResearch says with a grain of salt. Their methods seem very self serving and thier anaylsis is starting to show it’s age. The way they conduct themselves, and their research in the social media space is hard for me to swallow.
Other bloggers have joined in the fray, including Fard Johnmar, who spent $750 to get a copy of the report. Read his take on it, because even after reading it, he still has questions about it’s methodology and plenty of other unanswered queries that the even purchasing the full report did not address.
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originally published on dr.xnlb.com