How much of the music industry's decline is due to ability to audition before buying?

[AwwDeOhh]

Originally Posted by initialsBB

I keep hearing that but I've never heard of any of the labels that pulled out and I'm still finding a seemingly unlimited supply of music I want to listen to, so I'll stick around for now. But then it seems particularly suited to my interests: old "catalog" stuff from the '50s-'70s and new indie releases.

More seem to be pulling out weekly... and rightly so imo.
234 Labels, Leave Spotify... Wowa!

[rack gear]

Originally Posted by jinksdingo

Actually the decline of record sales occurred way before the internet and the CD.
Album sales declined except for a few Greats and those Greats still sell well today.

It has something to do with the buying public and what they like.

Record Companies re issue those Greats regularly as they make them money.

I'm talking about broad popularity across the generations.

Tracks with the life sucked out of them aren't really what the buying public wants even if some Publishers/ Record Labels are promoting them.

Most Record labels still haven't pieced together the relationship with a Musical Director and Orchestral backing and a talented Singer.

They seem to put their talent in with a Producer and his penchants for plugins.

you might want to rethink that:

here's 1973 - 2008...



the years correspond to excel row numbers, the graph represents 36 years of data 1973 - 2008.

Excel graphed the years as follows:

1973 is plot point "1"

1979 is plot point "7"

1999 is plot point "27"

2008 is plot point "36"



data source: http://musicbusinessresearch.files.w...obal-sales.jpg

so it looks like the "economy" really isn't that big of a factor after all, looking at 36 years of data...

add to that each decade also saw it's own added consumer competition...

the 70s saw the initial release of VCRs and Video Cassettes as well as video game consoles and cartridges,

the 80s saw home video boom as VHS matured, cable tv boomed, new types of youth sports took hold,

the 90s saw the introduction of DVDs, home computers became household items, people started paying for internet service, and cell phones began to be common place...

and yet through each one of those decades (without rampant online piracy) sales grew steadily until P2P and broadband reach ubiquity at the turn of the century...

then, the sales plummet.

you can choose to ignore this like you can choose to ignore a train crossing or a stop sign, but it's foolish and irrational to do so.

[initialsBB]

Originally Posted by AwwDeOhh

More seem to be pulling out weekly... and rightly so imo.
234 Labels, Leave Spotify... Wowa!

yeah, I can't say I blame them for leaving, but I've never heard of any of those labels so this supposed mass exodus hasn't affected me yet.

[rack gear]

Originally Posted by initialsBB

yeah, I can't say I blame them for leaving, but I've never heard of any of those labels so this supposed mass exodus hasn't affected me yet.

what's more telling is an artist like Coldplay NOT putting their new album on Spotify...

http://techland.time.com/2011/10/28/...um-on-spotify/

and now the black keys... more people are getting hip to this and expect it to continue... the major labels are equity partners praying for an IPO to get out before it goes down...

Digital Music News - The Black Keys Now Refusing to License Spotify, Rdio, & Rhapsody...

oh, and this is cute... upload your music to spotify for free, and surrender your royalties (that are already so small as to not exist)...

Digital Music News - SpotmeUp: The Spotify Distribution Is Free. But They Keep Your Royalties...

the labor cost of putting music on spotify probably cost more than the music will earn in a year... not a good model...

[initialsBB]

I've been wondering why labels don't adopt a hollywood-style release window model for streaming. Interestingly that's what a few people on that black keys thread are speculating they might be doing, although there doesn't seem to be any evidence for it, just pure speculation. Still, if Spotify were nothing but deep back catalog I would be extremely happy with it.

[GearOnTheGo]

Originally Posted by initialsBB

I've been wondering why labels don't adopt a hollywood-style release window model for streaming. Interestingly that's what a few people on that black keys thread are speculating they might be doing, although there doesn't seem to be any evidence for it, just pure speculation. Still, if Spotify were nothing but deep back catalog I would be extremely happy with it.

I've been in talks with people about windowing audio releases but it just still doesn't add up for Spotify.

Theres a difference between a reduced margin and no margin.


Labels have been windowing releases for years, ever seen "midlines" or budget lines? Hell in the vinyl days we even had cut outs, sold by weight not by unit!