Nielsen Soundscan at NARM: Only 2% of releases sell over 5,000 copies. (May 2010)

[NorseHorse]

The Latest Startling Stats Out of NARM... - Digital Music News

"How do artists, labels, and the broader industry take advantage of this enormous demand, most of which is being satisfied for free? And, how does anyone launch a career in such a super-saturated market?

On that last question, Nielsen Soundscan offered some sobering stats. A total of 98,000 albums were released in 2009, and just a handful crossed the million-mark. Perhaps more sobering, just 2.1 percent managed to cross the 5,000-mark, a group that made up 91 percent of total sales. Suddenly, fresh artists are staring at a near-zero chance of selling even modest amounts, part of a continued drizzle on DIY optimism."
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I'm curious to hear thoughts from the remote world on these stats.

Do they matter?
What do they mean for our end of the industry?
Have you noticed it in your daily work?
Does it affect you?

[wildplum]

To be sure, these are very interesting stats. Still I am not sure what to make of them. When I start my little record company, about 15 years ago, I remember reading an interesting stat. It was that 90% of records released do not sell 1000 (or more) copies. This was well before the download phenomena. Have things really changed that much? Maybe for the big labels, but for small indie artists just starting out, it seems it has always been very hard to sell records.

[boojum]

Part of it is the baseball analogy: lots of people can play baseball, not many are playing in the major leagues. Guitars are as plentiful as baseball bats.

It takes talent, sometimes, and a great PR machine behind the artist. The studio has to see you as something they can sell and make lots of money on. And then there is happy circumstance or luck. The downside is that many artists have problems of self-indulgence which cripple their chances of success. So even if you are immensely talented, do everything right and keep your nose clean you can be blown out of the water by something like Milli Vanilli,

See Thompson's quote on the music business: Hunter S. Thompson Quotes

[NorseHorse]

The report implies that all artists and ensemble should and could be popular. That is the fundamental fault of how the statistics are presented.

To quote Teddy from another thread:

Originally Posted by Teddy Ray

there is a lot of killer music being made on cheap equipment, amazing even... the problem is..nobody looks for it. I post links to bands once a week, and many others do too.

Mainstream music is shit, heartless, soul-less, turgid shlock..but there is a hell of a lot of great music out there. Just gotta look past the CLAs and TLAs and Green Days , Itunes, and whatevertell.

getting gear into more hands is a good thing. there are a hell of a lot of brilliant (and broke) people out there that dont have money for HD systems and whatnot..

So... are the statistics a sign that fewer people are being sucessful? NO. I think one of the things it shows is that it takes less (less time, less money, less soul selling) to release an album. Great. That means the market can be opened up to small-scale projects, low-key projects, and even not-for-profit projects. Success has been redefined.

Many of the ensembles I work with are non-profits or school ensembles. Selling 5,000 CDs is a pipedream. However, what about selling 100 CDs for $15? That's great. There's $1000 in the budget that wasn't there before. This also increases donations, increases concert attendance, and strengthens the ties between the ensemble and the community.

Should we be ignoring 98% of releases? Of course not. Actually, I tend to ignore the 2%. I like to know what real people (not the machine) are doing.

"Small fries are delicious."

[rogerbrain]

Originally Posted by NorseHorse

The report implies that all artists and ensemble should and could be popular. That is the fundamental fault of how the statistics are presented.

To quote Teddy from another thread:


So... are the statistics a sign that fewer people are being sucessful? NO. I think one of the things it shows is that it takes less (less time, less money, less soul selling) to release an album. Great. That means the market can be opened up to small-scale projects, low-key projects, and even not-for-profit projects. Success has been redefined.

Many of the ensembles I work with are non-profits or school ensembles. Selling 5,000 CDs is a pipedream. However, what about selling 100 CDs for $15? That's great. There's $1000 in the budget that wasn't there before. This also increases donations, increases concert attendance, and strengthens the ties between the ensemble and the community.

Should we be ignoring 98% of releases? Of course not. Actually, I tend to ignore the 2%. I like to know what real people (not the machine) are doing.

"Small fries are delicious."