DrumEatDrum
Platinum Member
On itunes in America.
Over the years there have been many threads on this board about new music vs older music.
Many have said older music is better than newer music, while others contend it's just a case of when you're young, you like new music, and as you get older, you tend to stick to older music.
Well, now iTunes is weighing in on this debate with the fact that old music outsold new music for 2014.
http://www.musicbusinessworldwide.com/old-albums-now-outselling-new-albums-itunes-america/
http://classicrock.teamrock.com/news/2015-01-29/old-album-sales-a-worrying-trend-for-music-industry
I contend some of this has to do with artist development. In the 60's, 70's and 80's. record companies would stand behind a band who initially flop because over time the bands would get better. But starting in the late 80's, and in full force by the mid-90's, bands either did well immediately or were dropped.
And some of it is perhaps younger crowds know how to download everything for free, and it's just the old people who are re-buying up albums of their youth in the itunes format.
Over the years there have been many threads on this board about new music vs older music.
Many have said older music is better than newer music, while others contend it's just a case of when you're young, you like new music, and as you get older, you tend to stick to older music.
Well, now iTunes is weighing in on this debate with the fact that old music outsold new music for 2014.
http://www.musicbusinessworldwide.com/old-albums-now-outselling-new-albums-itunes-america/
MBW has discovered that ‘new’ albums were outsold by ‘old’ (catalogue) albums online in the US for the first time in 2014.
The feat of catalogue albums outselling frontline releases was first achieved back in 2012, but that was a momentary blip; it’s never taken place over a whole year before.
The iTunes/downloads tipping point, as shown by Nielsen stats, is undoubtedly a cute moment, but it also highlights what will be a serious worry for the industry in the future: as you can read/see below, there has been a shocking erosion of sales of ‘new’ albums on physical formats in the past decade.
Such data asks two very clear questions of record labels: are people merely starting to consume their new music on streaming services rather than buying it in album form? Or are they increasingly less impressed with the new album releases that arrive year-in, year-out?
One thing looks certain: it now only appears a matter of time – very possibly in 2015 – when catalogue albums outsell new releases across all formats in a single year.
http://classicrock.teamrock.com/news/2015-01-29/old-album-sales-a-worrying-trend-for-music-industry
One example of a catalogue album selling well is Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers' Greatest Hits – originally released in 1993 – which is currently in the iTunes top 100 albums chart.
Industry expert Tim Ingham says it's a worrying trend for the music business and adds that it's only a matter of time before catalogue records outsell new releases on physical formats such as CD and vinyl as well as online.
The figures, compiled by Neilson, reveal that 53.6million digital catalogue albums were sold in the US in 2014, as opposed to 52.9million new releases.
I contend some of this has to do with artist development. In the 60's, 70's and 80's. record companies would stand behind a band who initially flop because over time the bands would get better. But starting in the late 80's, and in full force by the mid-90's, bands either did well immediately or were dropped.
And some of it is perhaps younger crowds know how to download everything for free, and it's just the old people who are re-buying up albums of their youth in the itunes format.