IT'LL ALL BE OVER BY CHRISTMAS

BBC 6 MUSIC

Steve Lamacq 28 Nov 08, 02:30 PM

 

Usually the only dust-up you'd find in the music industry in the run-up to Christmas is a small bout of marketing-led fisticuffs over whose Greatest Hits albums have got the best shelf space in Asda - or the Gumball Rally style race for the Christmas Number One.

 

That's just the record industry dueling with a couple of wet fish.

 

But not this year. This year it is all out war. Not only are the major corporations haunted by another 12 months of falling sales, but there is a new battleground they're desperate for success on: market share.

 

The thought process, I imagine, runs like this. If year on year sales are down again, then at least we can get the biggest percentage of the sales that are left. More than that - there are some big characters at the major labels these days who take this percentage punch-up very seriously (and possibly very personally).

 

The consequence of all this has been a pre-Christmas release schedule to make your eyes water. It's insane. Last year in the months between October and December - when traditionally the business gets by on some big reissues or Best Of compilations - you'd have been hard pressed to find four or five major new releases from the Top Ten acts. In fact retailers were up in arms at the lack of big pullers.

 

This year though, there's been about four or five major albums hitting the shops in the last ten minutes. Already we've had, among the big alternative acts, Snow Patrol, Kaiser Chiefs, Razorlight and Keane. While the pop market has been swamped with Girls Aloud, Beyonce, Leona Lewis and Dido to name but a few - and that's without getting too deeply into the soul and R&B markets.

 

To say the market is saturated would be an understatement.

 

Which throws up an interesting question. In their efforts to send in all the big guns this side of Christmas, are the big labels starting to eat themselves?

 

Whether you like the music or not, isn't there something odd about the Sony BMG group overseeing the release of the deluxe edition of Leona Lewis' LP - complete with her cover version of Run - in the same week as their new Dido record? Thus depriving one of their own artists of the Number One spot (Lewis, benefiting from a return appearance on X Factor pipped Dido into second place, while Beyonce, another Sony BMG act, trailed in at Number 10 in the SAME week). Could the hand of Simon Cowell - whose own Syco label goes through BMG and whose pet project is Leona - be at work here?

 

Interestingly, in its latest edition, the trade bible Music Week describes both the Razorlight and Keane albums as "underperforming" at retail (colloquial parlance for "they've stiffed"). And while there's one argument that both bands are possibly past their career peak, they were both perceived as being pivotal records in the lives of these groups. So why were they both pitched by the Universal group into the pre-Christmas melee (alongside a dozen other big albums from the same group of labels)?

 

If there are a finite number of fans buying this type of crossover rock record, then isn't that just splitting the vote? You would think even a bad Razorlight record would hang around the Top 20 for a couple of months, but after three weeks on sale Slipway Fires is at 33, while the Keane album (which I rather like, as you know) is down to 39, just one place ahead of Oasis, who also seem to be suffering from the glut of albums out there at the moment.

 

And that's before this week's batch of incoming releases, including The Killers' album and Guns N' Roses (you take a million years to make an album which costs trillions of pounds and then you put it out at the busiest time in release history for a decade!); and next week sees new albums by Take That & Britney Spears.

 

No wonder U2 - long tipped to return this autumn - took one look at this bunfight and backed off 'til next year. If you're going to work intensely hard on a record - and I'm not criticizing the A&R of this season's albums - then surely you'd like it to have some time to breathe on the shelves.

To add to the competition in the high street shops, iTunes have pitched in and been selling albums by Oasis, The Verve and MGMT for under a fiver (which is terrific as a consumer but I imagine pretty lousy if you're the one waiting for the royalty cheque).

 

I know that the music business has always been about the survival of the fittest. And for some of us the major labels work like the stock market (they make money, they lose money, they come crying to us for help) and we have a wry smile on our faces when it all goes wrong. But I've become increasingly fascinated by this little playground bundle. And the knock-on effects it may have on the rest of us.

 

My house price might not start falling if this fight ends in tears, but I suspect it doesn't do much for the development of new acts or our trust in the industry machine.

 

Do you think too many albums by major artists are released in the last quarter of the year compared to the previous 9 months or not?

Thanks for the article thisispop. Everyone & his brother seem to have been realeasing over the last few weeks & with supermarkets holding only the top 20 or 30 including compilations artists soonslip out of their charts & are no longer stocked. :(

Good read.

 

I certainly think there's a LOT of truth in this article. Especially with the way the economy is at the moment, all of the major labels want to try and create major sales by pressing albums in this final quarter. People only have a certain budget, so they're going to buy the albums they really want, and illegally download the others. I do think record labels put a lot of pressure on the artists to release their albums for this time of year too. Kaiser Chiefs, Snow Patrol and Razorlight have all released their weakest albums as of yet.

 

I think if you're going to make a record, there's no point rushing its release just to captivate on big sales. If it's good, then it'll have good sales. I hope these acts especially take a look at why their albums have done so poorly compared to them all having previously 1 million seller albums.

Good read.

 

Really makes you wonder why Guns N' Roses management decided to release Chinese Democracy when they did. I mean, putting up against The Killers AND Kanye?

 

The funny thing is that it has sold 150,000 copies in the UK, which is 50,000 more than AC/DC did when they got to No. 1. I think it may be more than Metallica sold as well.

Great article especially pointing out how X-Factor seems to rule the charts at this time of year and a performance on the show can totally change the success of an act. To be honest every year all the labels release albums by their biggest acts whilst it may mean that some will not reach #1 the 'underperforming' albums in the last quarter usually gain a new lease of life in the new year and go onto sell well - I am sure albums by the like of Dido, Snow Patrol, Keane, Oasis, Razorlight and co will climb up the charts in the new year and gain healthy sales. At the moment one weeks big release is next weeks old news...

I agree that there's too many albums all at once but in a way it does create a kind of excitement about music at the moment I think. Maybe I'm biased as The Killers have just released their album.

 

But I also think, like the previous comment said, that some of the albums will gain more momentum in the new year. Things like Keane which is a really good album is bound to sell more as people hear more songs off it. I guess it will seperate the wheat from the chaff. And I certainly wouldn't call a number one album underperforming!

 

Maybe Razorlight have done worse than expected but this isn't such a bad thing. :yahoo:

lol. definitely survival of the fittest at work

It's been happening for a few years, but this year seems worse than ever. It's not just bad for the not quite big enough artists, it's bad for us as music buyers.

 

The first part of the year is a good time for new acts to release, but without established artists bringing out new releases, there isn't the same incentive to go to a music shop, or even browse the CD section at the supermarket. Big releases in time for Mothers Day seems to be a newish thing, which provides another intensive period, but only for a certain sort of music.

 

Agree with this article, never thought about it like that before.

 

For me anyway, they're many albums i considered buying, but others have priority. In the top 75 this week:

 

1 N 45 Leona Lewis Spirit

5 3 3 Girls Aloud Out Of Control

8 5 4 Pink FunHouse

10 N 1 Beyonce I Am Sasha Fierce

15 9 4 Snow Patrol A Hundred Million Suns

24 10 2 Christina Aguilera Keeps Getting Better - A Decade Of Hits

26 20 10 Ne-Yo Year Of The Gentleman

28 23 9 Katy Perry One Of The Boys

33 16 3 Razorlight Slipway Fires

40 31 7 Oasis Dig Out Your Soul

43 42 9 Pussycat Dolls Doll Domination

50 34 5 Kaiser Chiefs Off With Their Heads

59 37 4 The Saturdays Chasing Lights

63 47 32 Elbow The Seldom Seen Kid (Only got into them round about now)

66 52 5 Sugababes Catfights & Spotlights

 

I'm unlikely to buy over 50% of these. Very good previous albums such as GA, Pink, Beyonce (imo) and Snow Patrol i haven't bought. :o

It would be alright had there be new stuff released in the summer, granted this summer wasn't so bad but last year it felt like there was no new releases

If sales are low with stupid amounts of albums being released, imagine how low sales will be with summer 2007 all over again :P

Whilst there is some truth in the article the main reason these albums are underperforming is because they're far from the artists best work. The reason Sugababes, Kaiser Chiefs and Razorlights albums are flopping are for the same reason The Fratellis, Kooks, Feeling and (to an extent) Madonna's albums did, they're c**p!

I actually think Kaisers' new one is A LOT better than Yours Truly Angry Mob :unsure: It's got more than three good tracks for a start :lol: That one will probably climb next year as it has actually a few singles this time.

 

Though I do agree with most sentiments said so far and the problem is will the fact that the record companies have put their albums in the middle of the christmas rush wreck their careers? If not many people buy an album which is rushed anyway and they're on a major label then their next one is not likely to do very well either! That's the difference! If Razorlight's next album doesn't do so well they could be in trouble meanwhile I'm sure Bloc Party would be ok if their next one doesn't do so well.. Then again I'm pretty sure they'll be alright anyway!

There have been far too many Autumn/Christmas releases this year. People only have so much they can spend on music, and there have been lots of casualties of this strategy. Note to record companies......... Time to re-think!

It's OK for the big acts that manage to release with a bang, but the lesser ones, or those with a slightly disappointing lead single disappear so quickly that there isn't much chance for word of mouth about the quality of the album to pay off. If an album takes a few listens to get into, you might not bother to make the effort if you bought another one that week, and are buying another one the next.

Whilst there is some truth in the article the main reason these albums are underperforming is because they're far from the artists best work. The reason Sugababes, Kaiser Chiefs and Razorlights albums are flopping are for the same reason The Fratellis, Kooks, Feeling and (to an extent) Madonna's albums did, they're c**p!

Subjective much?

No - I love this time of year for release.

 

If an act releases around now it's because they (them, record company, who knows) it because they want to gamble on making money on the high sales.

 

No1 in March compared with No1 in Dec is worlds apart in terms of profit.

 

The record companies are gambling (to an extent) with their act.

 

Watch Sugababes NOT release at Xmas next time.

 

I like it because there's quite a lot at stake in terms of reputation and careers (although as I used Sugababes previously, I think they will survive becuase they have enough history (and the record company certainly didn't spend much on promoting it)

Subjective much?

Why?

 

The excuse used in the article was that people aren't buying them because there's too much choice. If that's the reason then why have so many albums from big acts this year flopped when there's been such little competition?! If people want to buy an album they will, the simple reason is these albums aren't being bought because people aren't interested anymore!

Whilst there is some truth in the article the main reason these albums are underperforming is because they're far from the artists best work. The reason Sugababes, Kaiser Chiefs and Razorlights albums are flopping are for the same reason The Fratellis, Kooks, Feeling and (to an extent) Madonna's albums did, they're c**p!

 

Agreed!! All the above artists mentioned have flopped because they're new albums are c**p and fans of their previous work know this.

 

I think previously, artists could rely on their loyal fanbase to be successful album after album and so could get away with releasing any old rubbish, whereas nowadays if an artist/band doesn't come up with the goods then people will go elsewhere because there's so much more choice available.

 

Take The Kooks, The Feeling, The Fratellis, Razorlight and Kaiser Chiefs as mentioned above....their first albums contained hit after hit and it's obvious why they were so popular (even though they might not be to everyone's taste it's clear to see why they were popular) But listen to their new stuff and it's clear to see they just don't have good quality songs to do well with these albums. Diehard fans or optimistic fans will buy their albums in the first few weeks but those that wait to hear stuff of the album before buying will just not part with their money on lacklustre releases.

 

And therefore, that's why the likes of Take That, The Killers, Kings of Leon, etc are doing so well and selling....because they've got the good quality of songs to appeal to anyone who appreciates what makes good music.

Take The Kooks, The Feeling, The Fratellis, Razorlight and Kaiser Chiefs as mentioned above....their first albums contained hit after hit and it's obvious why they were so popular (even though they might not be to everyone's taste it's clear to see why they were popular) But listen to their new stuff and it's clear to see they just don't have good quality songs to do well with these albums. Diehard fans or optimistic fans will buy their albums in the first few weeks but those that wait to hear stuff of the album before buying will just not part with their money on lacklustre releases.

 

 

Out of the 5 you mention above I've only bought the new Feeling album yet have the previous albums by all the others!