Well, I could gave a one word answer of 'downloads', but I prefer to elaborate a little. :)

 

Before downloads, sales were very front-loaded, with a #1 selling maybe 200k, against 75k for the #2, effectively wasting 125k sales that could have potentially prolonged their stay at the top.

 

Nowadays sales are steadier, and margins smaller, meaning fewer 'wasted' sales, with the effect of producing longer runs in the higher regions of the chart for songs with sustained popularity.

 

Basically, downloads have eliminated the urgency of having to buy a single before CD stocks run out.

You could also say that most shops aren't stocking many new releases and also the weekly new releases that there are, amount to less than a quarter of what they used to be. It's a combination of poor songs, less choice of new music and less physicals, with unlimited availability of downloads.

I bet if the iTunes top 100 disappeared the chart would speed up a bit

 

iTunes is the dominant market force. People look at the top 100, buy the songs at the top and leave it there...if they had no idea what was at the top they might actually buy songs that they wanted instead of following what the crowd is buying

 

on the other hand, that might make sales decrease quite significantly as people might not have the time or inkling to actually search for what they want...

I'm not sure if sales have slowed down as such. The market has changed. Singles are now staying in the charts longer but no1 singles are selling less. Sales further down the chart are also higher.

 

I think there has been a lack of sure fire hits in recent years. Also, the impetus to buy physical singles has changed. alot of record companies are now only releasing 2 track singles and often they arent worth buying.

 

Illegal downloads may also have contributed somewhat to lower sales of more popular singles.

I'm not sure if sales have slowed down as such. The market has changed. Singles are now staying in the charts longer but no1 singles are selling less. Sales further down the chart are also higher.

 

I think there has been a lack of sure fire hits in recent years. Also, the impetus to buy physical singles has changed. alot of record companies are now only releasing 2 track singles and often they arent worth buying.

 

Illegal downloads may also have contributed somewhat to lower sales of more popular singles.

 

Piracy is hardly new, though.

 

Why do you think double-cassette machines were so popular in the 80's... :)

Piracy is hardly new, though.

 

Why do you think double-cassette machines were so popular in the 80's... :)

 

yes but it wasn't easy to find the released u want like u do on the internet nowadays...

now u can find any song u want just by clicking its name on a search engine and u'll find a million options leading u to download more and more illegal tracks.. P2P software and blogspot have increased illegal downloads...

if we were in 1998 i'm sure that Mika and Amy Winehouse's album would have sold more than 25 million copies each...