Interesting report from BBC:

 

Music retailers have urged record labels to spread the release of their big albums equally across the year.

 

The Entertainment Retailers Association says scheduling many of them in the run-up to Christmas is damaging sales.

 

The ERA's Kim Bayley said: "Cramming all the key releases in the fourth quarter is problematic both for consumers and retailers."

 

Universal, the world's biggest label, say a significant portion of their sales still come in that period.

 

The row comes after some disappointing sales weeks for albums in the UK in 2012.

 

In August, Rihanna set a new record for the lowest selling number one album since modern records began. Her album Talk That Talk, which came out in 2011, sold 9,578 copies to return to the top spot.

 

In May Emeli Sande sold 13,430 copies of Our Version Of Events to reach number one.

 

These are isolated cases, but according to the BPI the average sales for a number one album in 2011 was 109,175 - its highest for six years.

 

The Entertainment Retailers Association represents some of the country's biggest high street stores, supermarkets, online download stores and music streaming services.

 

The body's director general Kim Bayley said: "The first half of 2012 has seen one of the weakest release schedules retailers can remember in both music and video games.

 

"It is very difficult for retailers to sustain their year-round investment in staff and rent when sales are crammed into such a short window."

 

The world's biggest record label Universal have defended their strategy of releasing many of their big-name albums in the final months of the year.

 

Brian Rose is the managing director of the commercial division at Universal UK - this autumn his team have scheduled new albums from The Wanted, Mumford & Sons and Robbie Williams.

 

He says August is always a quiet month and points towards modern global release strategies as a reason, since much of mainland Europe's music industry takes the period off as holiday.

 

"August is not a great month to release a big new record because most people aren't buying music at that point," he said.

 

"We don't put all our hopes into an autumn release period - we are very much a 52-weeks-of-the-year business but there's solid business reasons to release a lot of them in the autumn.

 

"In December we'll sell 20% of all the albums we'll sell in a year, so it's still a big opportunity."

 

In recent years HMV has struggled on the high street, as they move away from sales of physical music.

 

Spokesperson Gennaro Castaldo says retailers are concerned about big releases all arriving at the same time - what he calls "congestion" in the schedule.

 

"If you've got umpteen albums and DVDs all fighting for that key retail and media space then clearly then not everyone is going to achieve their sales," he said. "I think there are lots of potential sales which aren't achieved."

 

However, both retailers and record companies agree 2012 has been an exceptional year.

 

They say album sales have seen fluctuation because consumers have been distracted by big events such as the Queen's Diamond Jubilee, Euro 2012 and Olympic and Paralympic games.

Interesting article although there's nothing new. Labels will always prefer Q4 and also there'll always be exceptions (last year Adele's huge reign, this year big events and very low weekly sales)

Edited September 4, 201212 yr by SKOB

If record companies thought they would sell more releasing albums evenly through out the year then they'd be doing that. I dont think it's possibly to convince them that they are missing out on sales when they are more than happy with figures for Q4 at the moment.

 

 

 

There are some albums that don't need to be released in November, like One Direction's and the Wanted. They can damn wait till next year if they have to

 

Little Mix is a must for this year because they are the X-Factor winner. Tulisa is also a must.

 

So really, there is no need for the pile up. The record companies should be aware of this and should try and solve the issue ASAP.

They say album sales have seen fluctuation because consumers have been distracted by big events such as the Queen's Diamond Jubilee, Euro 2012 and Olympic and Paralympic games.

 

I don't think people are going to be sat on their arses ALL day watching TV! :P And even if they were, you can still buy an album online.

There are some albums that don't need to be released in November, like One Direction's and the Wanted. They can damn wait till next year if they have to

 

Little Mix is a must for this year because they are the X-Factor winner. Tulisa is also a must.

 

So really, there is no need for the pile up. The record companies should be aware of this and should try and solve the issue ASAP.

 

Um... One Direction DO need to release their album in November if they want a chance of selling 100k first week like their debut album last year. Also if they release it around Christmas then people might buy it for their sisters, daughters and nieces = extra sales = £££ *.* £££

OK, but they would want enough attention for the album. Maybe December might be better for them.

1D, Wanted, Tulisa NEED Q4, Cheryl would've needed it as well

 

And Mumford & Sons, Take That, Robbie, Adele etc don't.

There are some albums that don't need to be released in November, like One Direction's and the Wanted. They can damn wait till next year if they have to

 

Little Mix is a must for this year because they are the X-Factor winner. Tulisa is also a must.

 

So really, there is no need for the pile up. The record companies should be aware of this and should try and solve the issue ASAP.

 

The Wanted aren't huge album sellers.

There are some albums that don't need to be released in November, like One Direction's and the Wanted. They can damn wait till next year if they have to

 

Little Mix is a must for this year because they are the X-Factor winner. Tulisa is also a must.

 

So really, there is no need for the pile up. The record companies should be aware of this and should try and solve the issue ASAP.

 

 

why are they a MUST?

why are they a MUST?

 

I think he meant because their albums would flop/underperform if they were released outside of the Christmas market. However, I doubt Tulisa's album will do terrifically well anyway!

Edited September 4, 201212 yr by liamk97

Ok. Thanks.

X-Factor alumni will continue to release albums in Q4 as its the period of greatest promotion + exposure (i.e. on music specials/X-Factor live shows). For the likes of these contestants, they're brought back to public attention when X-Factor is airing again - so the perfect time to release material.

 

One Direction, The Wanted, Tulisa, Little Mix aren't even necessarily wanting a #1 album (well Simon wants 1D and LM to get it), but even a #10 debut in Q4 would be an achievement because of the sales + the likelihood that it'll reach 300k by Christmas. 1D and Rebecca Ferguson last year were perfect examples of Q4 releases - Ferguson in particular didn't even seem like a #1 contender, but in the end still managed to sell 600k with her debut album; pretty impressive.

 

If artists/labels want sales, which they do, Q4 will always be the best period to release. Emeli Sande and Adele have been great exceptions to this rule, but partially because nothing else is around to deduct its sales.

One Direction, The Wanted, Tulisa, Little Mix aren't even necessarily wanting a #1 album (well Simon wants 1D and LM to get it), but even a #10 debut in Q4 would be an achievement because of the sales + the likelihood that it'll reach 300k by Christmas. 1D and Rebecca Ferguson last year were perfect examples of Q4 releases - Ferguson in particular didn't even seem like a #1 contender, but in the end still managed to sell 600k with her debut album; pretty impressive.

 

Rebecca's album was just right for Christmas, whereas Tulisa's album isn't. I could see it having similar album sales to Matt Cardle's album last year.

Much as I can see the frustration from a business point of view for HMV and the like, as has been said above it's not necessarily about getting number 1 etc - and Rebecca Ferguson's album was a great example of that, didn't get to #1 but still sold very very well, 600k. Likewise year before that in 2010 Olly Murs and JLS both peaked at #2 and both their albums went double platinum - Olly's was actually the fastest selling debut album of 2010 I believe.

 

Someone I speak to on Twitter who's a massive fan of Diana Vickers said to me recently that he believes her album might have sold a bit more and had more impact had it been released in the autumn of 2009 as was originally planned and I kind of have to agree with him - after all her album and first single were both #1 but imagine how much more they would have sold in a busier part of the year.

Interesting report. I think next year we may see album sales on an upwards trend. One reason being that it won't be competing with the year of Adele's amazing success. Another because there will be no HUGE events that could possibly affect album sales for an extended period of time (like the Olympics or Paralympics). Plus, we'll have some big releases that will sell into next year; Lady Gaga, Rihanna, possibly P!nk, possibly Leona, One Direction and some others I am likely missing!

Edited September 4, 201212 yr by Envoirment

Plus, we'll have some big releases that will sell into next year; Lady Gaga, Rihanna, possibly P!nk, possibly Leona, One Direction and some others I am likely missing!

 

Plus Kylie's new album released next year! :dance:

Edited September 4, 201212 yr by liamk97

So basically, all the X-Factor related acts (Including Tulisa), with the slight exception of JLS, must release their albums in November.

The other big names should really wait till December or 2013.

 

So basically, all the X-Factor related acts (Including Tulisa), with the slight exception of JLS, must release their albums in November.

The other big names should really wait till December or 2013.

 

Why though? It's the perfect time to release albums, what with Christmas coming. Sales are normally a LOT higher than the rest of the year, and a big album released in June time might not get exceptionally high sales anyway - take the week when Justin and Cheryl went up against each other in the albums. If that week was later in the year, I'd imagine the positions would be the same but the sales would be so much higher. Why miss out on a lot of those sales when you can cash in on them?

 

I mean, there are so many albums coming out soon that I want to buy, and I'd prefer them to be spread over the year, but I can easily see why record companies want it then. X Factor acts aren't different to any other chart artist.

The thing is some artists ONLY really sell albums in Q4 - look at Rebecca Ferguson i doubt she would have sold half the amount of albums she did if released in april say - they were all prsent based gifts and a some fanbase she had built up from xfactor.

 

It would also be interesting to see how many albums jls would sell outside of november?!

Edited September 5, 201212 yr by steve201