Posted December 12, 200915 yr A lot of acts seem to be ditching physicals for download only lately. One example is contenders to that horrible X-Factor song such as Whitney Houston, 30h3 and Pixie Lott a few weeks back. Surely with a physical, people who don't want X-Factor could pledge and help the sales very well. Download only - people can be a bit funny with paying for a song, and it doesnt have the feel a physical has where it can be collected and there is artwork on the front and sometimes a B-side. I also think download only hidners acts in the singles charts and can spoil good runs. Personally I think physicals need to be bought back even if they are 99p one track ones. Downloading isn't all that.
December 12, 200915 yr Almost no one really buys any physicals anymore, even if it's available. (Only die-hard fans and collectors) 98% of the sales are downloads. I don't think releasing a song on downloads alone will hinder it's chart run. Just look at David Guetta/Akon - Sexy Chick. It was number 1 on downloads alone. Or Leona Lewis - Run. The promotion of songs is a bigger problem. If songs don't get playlisted or wo't be promoted properly, they will fail. Personally I think physicals need to be bought back even if they are 99p one track ones. Downloading isn't all that. Stores will not sell physicals for 99p just to "have it in the store". If it creates a loss it has no sense. That's trade.
December 12, 200915 yr The big advantage of physical singles was their visibility. When shops gave a lot of shelf space to singles you could see see singles which had got little or no airplay. Now, unless it's one of the few songs featured on the iTunes home page (other download sites are available), it's easy to miss the fact that a song is available as a single. That means that casual fans of a band may not be aware of the existence of a single. Even if they do know, there's no point in downloading it if they already own the album (or expect to buy it if it's not yet been released) whereas they may have bought a physical single for the b-side.
December 12, 200915 yr The big advantage of physical singles was their visibility. When shops gave a lot of shelf space to singles you could see see singles which had got little or no airplay. Now, unless it's one of the few songs featured on the iTunes home page (other download sites are available), it's easy to miss the fact that a song is available as a single. That means that casual fans of a band may not be aware of the existence of a single. Even if they do know, there's no point in downloading it if they already own the album (or expect to buy it if it's not yet been released) whereas they may have bought a physical single for the b-side. I agree. This is exactly why the gap between the big hits and the small hits is so huge now. In "the olden days", you'd might see a song on The Box a couple of times or performed on SMTV and that's it but you might be tempted to buy it because you saw it on the shelf. It didn't matter that you weren't on Radio 1, you could still make it to number 32 if the song was any good just because people would see it and then think ooh I'll buy that. Now, unless it's getting hammered on the radio it's much more difficult to even make the top 75. And songs that we might have expected to reach number 60 five years ago now might miss the top 200. Songs with less exposure have to rely on people searching for the song so it suffers from missing out on people who have forgotten the song has come out.
December 12, 200915 yr Pros and cons. Physical Pros: + Can be given as a present. + Gets visability in shops + Opportunity for HMV signing etc Cons: - No quick release possible - Change of release date more problematic - Fixed costs overheads - Potential loss if failure to sell sufficant quantity Downloads Pros: + Gets lots of instant one click sales + Can get sales directly by link from youtube and other video sites + Can release quickly + Can change release date easily + Can get visibility on front page of download sites with special offers....and being in download chart Cons: - Release date might have an error and stop sales aka Rihanna two weeks ago not available on first day Edited December 12, 200915 yr by Xmas presents
December 12, 200915 yr I agree. This is exactly why the gap between the big hits and the small hits is so huge now. In "the olden days", you'd might see a song on The Box a couple of times or performed on SMTV and that's it but you might be tempted to buy it because you saw it on the shelf. It didn't matter that you weren't on Radio 1, you could still make it to number 32 if the song was any good just because people would see it and then think ooh I'll buy that. Now, unless it's getting hammered on the radio it's much more difficult to even make the top 75. And songs that we might have expected to reach number 60 five years ago now might miss the top 200. Songs with less exposure have to rely on people searching for the song so it suffers from missing out on people who have forgotten the song has come out. I completely agree...it's such a shame to see a lot of smaller acts struggling to make any sort of impact now :( I hate the way that songs HAVE to be on Radio 1 to stand any chance of being a hit now
December 12, 200915 yr Personally I think physicals need to be bought back even if they are 99p one track ones. Downloading isn't all that. What would the record company get out of it, nothing.. if you sell a single for 99p, it just be a waste of production and money down the drain.
December 12, 200915 yr I completely agree...it's such a shame to see a lot of smaller acts struggling to make any sort of impact now :( I hate the way that songs HAVE to be on Radio 1 to stand any chance of being a hit now Indeed. The angriest musically I have been was listening to the Chris Moyles show earlier this year when he played the oldie Robyn/Kleerup - With Every Heartbeat; and Chris mentioned that he thought he heard that Robyn had a new single coming out; an which point his Welsh radio producer Aled Jones interjected that the song (The Girl And The Robot) had been discussed for the upcoming Radio playlist but they decided it was "rubbish". The song went on to reach the Top 2 in Scandinavia and won our BJSC with a record score; also winning the best of the last ten contests contest. But it only reached #313 in the UK. Having heard in October that Kylie Minogue has recorded it for possible inclusion on her next album, you can bet that if she actually released it, it would go straight to the Radio 1 A-Playlist.
December 12, 200915 yr I completely agree...it's such a shame to see a lot of smaller acts struggling to make any sort of impact now :( I hate the way that songs HAVE to be on Radio 1 to stand any chance of being a hit now Me too. Radio 1 decide what singles will be successful not the public. :angry: The trouble is many of the artists radio 1 champion can't sell albums where the real money is made. Edited December 12, 200915 yr by truly talented
December 12, 200915 yr Author Me too. Radio 1 decide what singles will be successful not the public. :angry: The trouble is many of the artists radio 1 champion can't sell albums where the real money is made. I couldn't agree more. It seems that anything "daring" or by a newcomer who isnt friends with the tart Fearne or that t*** Reggie is chanceless. If you notice the chart is mainly full of established artists and Kayne West seems to have an auto top 10 record. Downloads have created a monster.....the newbies are struggling.
December 12, 200915 yr Radio 1 didn't approve the Timmy Trendy track which happens to be better than most of the playlist. I loved the point Scott Mills made that Kesha gets played so often. Why is that a supposed good song. I think its awful.
December 12, 200915 yr I couldn't agree more. It seems that anything "daring" or by a newcomer who isnt friends with the tart Fearne or that t*** Reggie is chanceless. If you notice the chart is mainly full of established artists and Kayne West seems to have an auto top 10 record. Downloads have created a monster.....the newbies are struggling. Now you're exaggerating. :angry: I think downloads should make the newbies the breakthrough easier: YouTube, MySpace etc. Plus for physical singles acts need a record company but actually you can release a song on downloads without a record company, so this is another advantage for new acts. What Radios do with songs does not depend on if a song gets a release on physicals or only on downloads!!! I agree, that physical singles look good, and they are eyecatcher. Personally I rarely buy singles because I think they are expensive and not worth for the money, only 2 or 3 tracks are on it, normally the same songs with remixes, and mostly the remixes are awful. I'd rather buy albums, so I get more different songs, and there are surely more songs I like.
December 12, 200915 yr We are now in the downloading generation. Physical singles I think are all but dead , which sucks especially for me since I can't download legally from any of the European sites from the US . There is some UK /European stuff but its very limited
December 12, 200915 yr We are now in the downloading generation. Physical singles I think are all but dead , which sucks especially for me since I can't download legally from any of the European sites from the US . There is some UK /European stuff but its very limited That's very stupid tbh. For downloads there should be a global market on the internet, no matter where you are actually.
December 12, 200915 yr Me too. Radio 1 decide what singles will be successful not the public. :angry: The trouble is many of the artists radio 1 champion can't sell albums where the real money is made. It would be interesting to see what proportion of top 40 singles had been on the R1 playlist and what proportion of the playlist fails to make the chart and then to compare that with the figures for previous years. It would help if individual presenters were able to play more songs of their own choice although as presenters are no longer chosen for their interest in music that might make things even worse :blink: We shouldn't run away with the idea that R1's influence is anything new. In the days of physical singles, one of the biggest factor's in a single's success or failure was whether Woolies (RIP) stocked it.
December 12, 200915 yr Radio 1 didn't approve the Timmy Trendy track which happens to be better than most of the playlist. I loved the point Scott Mills made that Kesha gets played so often. Why is that a supposed good song. I think its awful. Seconded! Kesha is so overplayed nowadays, even though it was Scott's record of the week back in September or something.
December 12, 200915 yr I think that physicals are a huge help to some campaigns, but there is no point if the act will reach an equal peak without them. For example, I am surprised that Pixie dropped the CMO physical, because it probably could have clinched her Top 10. For the BAG push, she signed hundreds of physicals at HMV stores in release week and that was what edged her the #1. For new acts, it is often useful for a debut single to have a physical due to the exposure in shops. As an artist gets bigger and bigger, physicals become less significant. :) :P :D
December 12, 200915 yr That's very stupid tbh. For downloads there should be a global market on the internet, no matter where you are actually. you're soo right. The internet market should make all the market global otherwise what's the point of it? 7 Digital is one of those sites that you can download from anywhere in the world. iTunes and Amazon should do the same too.
December 12, 200915 yr i think physicals helped non-established acts to make it into the charts... if u compare the number of new acts reaching the top 75 back in the late 90's and early 00's and the number of new acts reaching the charts now... we know we have a lot less new acts making it, which is a shame caus' we need new blood in the music industry and not only the ones imposed to us by marketing giants and talent shows... plus lack of physicals is leading to many older established acts to flop, just look at what happened to Kylie's 'The One', Madonna's 'Miles away', Natalie Imbruglia's 'Want' to name but a few.. who would have thought this would happen???
December 12, 200915 yr i think physicals helped non-established acts to make it into the charts... if u compare the number of new acts reaching the top 75 back in the late 90's and early 00's and the number of new acts reaching the charts now... we know we have a lot less new acts making it, which is a shame caus' we need new blood in the music industry and not only the ones imposed to us by marketing giants and talent shows... plus lack of physicals is leading to many older established acts to flop, just look at what happened to Kylie's 'The One', Madonna's 'Miles away', Natalie Imbruglia's 'Want' to name but a few.. who would have thought this would happen??? Madonna - Miles Away was on physicals ;)
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