Album Sales Drop Accelerated To 18% In May
On the eve of the annual NARM music sales convention, Nielsen Soundscan delivered the sobering news that the decline in album sales accelerated to 17.8% in May compared to the same month in 2008. Last month's sales were 37.7% lower than in May 2007.The drop compares to declines in recent month of 11-13.5% and suggested a even sharper sales fall off then most had predicted. However, the figures do not reflect most direct to fan sales from indie and d.i.y. artists via their own sites and at shows. While not nearly enough to counter the overall decline, this direct artist to fan relationship is one of the bright spots in an often bleak music sales landscape.
Share on:
The general economy is not getting any better, despite all the happy talk about “green shoots.” Gasoline prices shot up most of $1 per gallon, nearly 50%, in May, and that will absorb the little spare cash consumers felt they had during the winter oil price drop. (Personally, alas, the CD budget is the first thing to be sacrificed for higher gas prices. The next is tasty food. There’s not much left that can be cut.)
The pressures against credit card use, with many banks hiking interest rates to 20% and beyond, will lead many consumers to stop using their credit cards. If the bank hasn’t cut them off completely. The digital music business depends entirely on credit cards. Uh-oh.
Nearly all of the the new music is un-differentiated junk, and the bands/artists are insufferably dull. The good news is that any of it is selling at all.
-BL
I find this information very useful. Great work! We study this article on the regular basis :-). And we recommend this to every body.