Apparently it takes now 17 k to reach the US Billboard Hot 200 albums top 10, and only thanks to Adele, overall sales are not hitting an all time low, yet regarding chart positions, it is the 1st time in US Chart History that sales within the top 10 are that low....

and they thought PIPA and SOPA were pointless....

 

 

Music Week US Chart Report

 

.........There is a 30% fall in sales for Coldplay’s Mylo Xyloto to 20,000 as it drops 5-8, while an 18% sales drop does not prevent Nickelback’s Here And Now returning to the Top 10, rising 11-9 after selling 19,000 copies. Now 40 completes the Top 10, down 9-10 with 17,000 sales, rounding off what is for positions 8-10 the first time since Nielsen SoundScan started logging the chart numbers in 1991 that fewer than 20,000 sales have been needed to crack the Top 10

It's probably because the country has so many hackers and tech geeks that people are constantly finding innovative ways of downloading music without paying. I don't think music consumption's changed, just that America's been cursed by its own intelligence.

It's probably because the country has so many hackers and tech geeks that people are constantly finding innovative ways of downloading music without paying. I don't think music consumption's changed, just that America's been cursed by its own intelligence.

 

Huh? It's incredibly easy to illegally download music :lol:

 

But anyway, overall album sales last week were actually UP on the same week in 2011, so it's not sales in general hitting an all time low, just sales towards the top end of the chart. (Adele's sales at #1 weren't anything spectacular to keep that afloat either, only 104k).

It's probably because the country has so many hackers and tech geeks that people are constantly finding innovative ways of downloading music without paying. I don't think music consumption's changed, just that America's been cursed by its own intelligence.

 

Well, this post is hardly a great advertisement of "American intelligence". I can't decide if the nonsense about "innovative" ways to download music or the bizarre implication of American superiority is the worst offender here. MediaFire (for example) works just fine for free music. There's no need for innovation when it's so simple already. Any idiot can do it.

It's probably because the country has so many hackers and tech geeks that people are constantly finding innovative ways of downloading music without paying. I don't think music consumption's changed, just that America's been cursed by its own intelligence.

 

intelligence or cheapness???? :D

Lots of reasons - economy, people cutting down on discretionary spending (and hence illegally downloading music), lack of record stores, and more than that - very few artists that people are aware of who are making a solid album. I'm not saying that there aren't any, but just that the public aren't that aware given how pigeonholed radio stations are and don't play a variety of music. People get their share of music with things like Spotify, etc. so don't feel the need to "own" music. Every time I log into Facebook, all I get are those status messages on "XXX listened to blah-blah artist, blah-blah song on Spotify", etc.

 

Plus, back in the day, there was the concept of a fanbase that would buy anything a Justin or N'Sync or Britney or Eminem put out which would generate sales. Barring Bieber and Buble these days, I don't think there's any artist these days that commands that kind of fanbase. Record companies too don't seem to be investing too much in 1 artist as they would before.

 

 

You're forgetting GaGa and Taylor "my fanbase would get me coughing for 3 minutes to #1 on iTunes" Swift.