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110 albums sold 250,000 copies or more, rest only sold to band's Gramma

Posted by aubin on Tuesday, October 6, 2009 at 12:00 PM (EDT)

The Chicago Tribune is reporting on the Future of Music summit which gives some hard numbers as to the state of music right now. Interestingly, the organizers have crunched the numbers to help give some indication of where album sales are right now.

More than 115,000 albums were released, but only 110 sold more than 250,000 copies, a mere 1,500 topped 10,000 sales, and fewer than 6,000 cracked the 1,000 barrier. As an exercise in extremes though, it's worth noting that the Beatles managed to sell 2.25 million physical reissues of 40 year old albums in just five days. The legendary band is still not selling music digitally.

Check out the report here.

Games and Technology (66 comments)

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Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way. Seriously.

spalmer (October 6, 2009)

thats cuz old people love to buy thins they already own to validate their youth

2+ Replies

Dante3000 (rich) (October 6, 2009)

Pretty much. Glad this was the first post.
-Dante

InstantDharma (October 6, 2009)

Hmmm, actually try that they sound amazing. If your taste in music wasn't completely infantile, you would have known that already.

Here's a little tip: when you're a failure at life, don't advertise it on the Internet.

Torgo (October 6, 2009)

I love The Beatles but fuck it annoys me so many people buy their shit and so many other bands I love are poor as shit. Half are dead and the other two are loaded! I have no qualms illegally downloading bands that have gold albums.

2+ Replies

red_eye_inc (October 6, 2009)

Maybe they buy beatles albums because they like the Beatles, not because they think The Beatles need the money. Your statement is stupid and you're a criminal.

Torgo (October 6, 2009)

Yeah, obviously I'm saying people don't like the music. I don't think it's OK to buy the same album in record, cassette, CD twice, and digital when it finally comes out there since that is what these people are doing. And way to get on your high horse, being the only person on the internet to have never downloaded a torrent, you get a gold star. I'm sure Aerosmith and Van Halen can go to sleep soundly knowing there's people like you out there.

red_eye_inc (October 6, 2009)

You just said that it bothers you that people buy Beatles records when bands you like are so much more deserving of their money. I think the Sudanese lost boys in the diaspora deserve any money that you make more than you do, so put your money where you mouth is and hand it over. And you can't give enough so that you can still live comfortably, you have to give up enough so that they have the same standard of living as you.

On a side note, whatever stupid bands you like probably don't deserve a fucking dime and you have the writing skills of a 10-year old.

mikexdude (October 6, 2009)

And you have the maturity and belligerence of a 10-year old.

red_eye_inc (October 6, 2009)

Keep out of it you pathetic fuck, no one asked you because you're a loser and no one cares what you think

mikexdude (October 6, 2009)

Hahahahaha... thanks for proving my point. Ain't no loser, bro.

IamtheAvatar (October 6, 2009)

He's definitely got something up his ass. But I wonder why you were compelled to type that last sentence, dude.

mikexdude (October 6, 2009)

Becuz I'm insecure :,( LEAVE ME ALONE!

IamtheAvatar (October 6, 2009)

It's ok.

Torgo (October 6, 2009)

Hey this was between redeye and i how dare u cum in and fuk up me pwning him hes stupid im smrt ur gay

ExtraCheesePizza (October 6, 2009)

I would like to see what those 110 albums were. Where did they get their numbers from? SoundScan?

1+ Reply

the_creeps (October 6, 2009)

I'm sure Paramore, Vampire Weekend, and Coldplay are in there somewhere.

655321 (October 6, 2009)

are these just physical album sales? Did the reporter consider iTunes sales, etc.? I'm not trying to say that record sales are what they were 10 years ago, but it seems as if they have intentionally omitted some useful information in order to.... come to the conclusion that everyone is aware of.

1+ Reply

givemeamuseumandillfillit (October 6, 2009)

The point of it is that it's physical album sales.

iamnormie (October 6, 2009)

yeah and how many of those bands actually get any real exposure outside of myspace, college radio that most people don't listen to, and word of mouth? There's more factors to the decline of album sales than just digital sales and piracy.

3+ Replies

the_other_scott (October 6, 2009)

i have no idea what your'e talking about. you're saying that the decline of album sales can be blamed on lack of exposure for bands? there's a few things wrong with that statement, but in case that's not what you mean I won't call you out on them. care to explain?

655321 (October 6, 2009)

One point he's getting at is that 30-40 years ago there were only like 100 bands to choose from and buy albums from, so of course album sales topped 250,000 (especially before iTunes, piracy). Now, with so many independent bands, there are tens of thousands of bands to buy albums from, so album sales are not going to be nearly as high from one particular band. Basically, the market has been flooded.

655321 (October 6, 2009)

...the pie, even though it has shrunk, is now being divided up among many more people.

the_other_scott (October 6, 2009)

i think you have a somewhat valid point with the market being flooded, that's not what I took from his statement, unless i read it wrong.

InstantDharma (October 6, 2009)

Yup, there are way, way more bands now. And 99% of them completely suck balls. They have no business expecting people to listen to their marginal, vapid and unoriginal music.

However the fact that over a 100 artists sold that many means there are still people that value music in their lives, and don't view it as just something you find in a shitty sounding 3 meg file.

matt_b (October 6, 2009)

This is fairly interesting. Especially the last bit of information - the Beatles still have yet to transcend into the digital age, but still remain relevant.

3+ Replies

Inspection12e (October 6, 2009)

I guess the physical format isn't dead yet.

655321 (October 6, 2009)

I read yesterday that punk is dead though... and has been for either 25 or 28 years

telegraphrocks (October 6, 2009)

When asked whether punk rock was more democratic or republican, most people thought it died in the 80's.

nick_s (October 6, 2009)

To an extent, but the advertising campaign has been fucking collosal over here.

MilesQToast (October 6, 2009)

I want one of those sweet engraved rings

HeyBarmold (October 6, 2009)

115,000 albums may have been released, but they certainly were not all marketed to the same demographic. The Jonas Brothers cd was probably expected to sell more than 250,000 copies, but the new Polar Bear Club is not expected sell anywhere near that. Are they suggesting that a release on Asian Man records or the soundtrack to some Sandra Bullock movie is supposed to sell 250,000 copies?

I'm gonna imagine that of the 115,000 albums released, almost all the albums that performed "poorly" were on major labels.

woodandiron (October 6, 2009)

All this hand-wringing over the death of the music industry doesn't strike any sympathetic emotions from me. The fact is that the world appears to be shifting to a more fluid and less regulated domain of intellectual property regarding music, movies, TV, whatever. These companies are freaking out because all they do is facilitate talented people to put out music, they don't actually produce anything on their own. Their goal is to find a new way to bring in money or die like the dinosaurs they appear to be.

For artists, I think the way forward is digital downloads, either free or for money. But focus on a satisfying live show. Also, try and avoid middlemen like record companies as much as possible.

It's just a fact of life. The market for all sorts of media is becoming so niche-driven and fractured that it's damn nearly unlikely that any band can become a

show rest of comment

6+ Replies

the_other_scott (October 6, 2009)

again - another rant that shows no actual knowledge of the people involved in the music industry outside of the billionaire music executive.

MattRamone (October 6, 2009)

I use labels as kind of a Seal of Approval. If I see a band signed to Side 1 or Suburban Home or Red Scare, I will be WAY more inclined to check them out.

LookingForCorpses (October 6, 2009)

I finally agree with something you've said. Completely correct. Labels are essentially marketing machines and the name/brand sells copies on its own.

jacknife737 (October 6, 2009)

This.

I'd also add Fat to that list.

InstantDharma (October 6, 2009)

Still pretending you're only hurting the labels, huh? Riiiight..

Musicians can't even afford health care for themselves or their family, but you douchebags still come on the Internet trying to rationalize your stealing. Classy.

Killtaker (October 6, 2009)

The ability to record a decent sounding record on the cheap is very impressive these days but when it comes to television and movies there has to be revenue coming in to cover production costs.

Oldpunkerforever (October 6, 2009)

well, I am always and have always been a fan of having the physical copy of something, I just find it neat. I just want to add that I got the new Strike Anywhere yesterday and good grief, its brilliant-oldpunker-

1+ Reply

Hayman (October 12, 2009)

Thats 'cause you're awesome. I agree about Strike Anywhere too. Good times!

lostandclowned (October 6, 2009)

I think it may be that the Beatles still have a fair amount of fans who don't use iTunes or download music. But there's also the fact that they're just good.

chickswithdicks (October 6, 2009)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hAckshe5Dc0

HeyBarmold (October 6, 2009)

My biggest complaint about the digital marketplace is the complete absence of any legitimate secondary market. You obviously can't buy used MP3s anywhere like you could buy a used record or cd. The only secondary market is piratization.

1+ Reply

deadXlast (October 6, 2009)

Bands/labels don't make money from even a legitimate secondary market, so it probably doesn't matter to most of them.

justthetip (October 6, 2009)

Is it suppose to say Grandma? What the hell is Gramma?

eatdogs (October 6, 2009)

it's here. it's finally here. no more cds for sale. all digital. i claim it now.

miniblindbandit (October 6, 2009)

the publicist he got the numbers from contributes to a pretty cool blog.

http://www.musicthinktank.com/

punkrockliz (October 6, 2009)

I dont know those numbers seem a little fishy. The only thing that makes sense is old people buy stuff on the formats they are used to. Which would be cds or records. And all the kids buy or steal it off the internet. Wait a second I just talked myself into believing this.

2+ Replies

flood (October 6, 2009)

the lower tier numbers are totally wrong. theres shitloads of indie albums that sold more than 1,000 copies... they just don't report to charts.. i mean shit most of my releases sell more than 1,000 copies and we're a really tiny label.

LookingForCorpses (December 3, 2009)

Having worked at a couple of indies through the years and still having friends at indies there's nothing off about their lower tier numbers. Most indie releases aren't hitting 1000 copies. I'm actually pretty surprised yours do, no offense to you. But seeing how sales have fallen (even for indies) in the past 2 years, I'd say their calculation may even be high.

MonsterLobster (October 6, 2009)

Does this surprise anyone?

cpp_ (October 6, 2009)

no offence to anyone who may be a struggling artist, but seriously there are too many bands being signed or kept by labels that are releasing the same album every year, nothing sounds different or unique anymore, it all sounds the same. The same with movies, they're having problems with people downloading because they release the same movies every year that are so predictable and expensive that it makes people not want to go and spend money on predictable plot lines, reused catch phrases, sequals and remakes to films that should be left alone.
I do think the 3d thing when it first started was pretty cool, but even that is gettingg old because everymovie you hear of anymore is in 3d. Anyways just rambling,

3+ Replies

the_other_scott (October 6, 2009)

i don't buy this argument in a minute. people steal music and movies because its easy, quick, and likely you won't get caught, and they'd rather have extra cash to spend on other things.

TROOF (October 6, 2009)

this, this and this

jacknife737 (October 6, 2009)

Completely disagree on the accounts of both music and movies. There is a lot of amazing stuff getting made in both mediums.

eran_zombis (October 6, 2009)

a. people are being mean to each other today.

b. I first read this as 110 (the band) sells 250,000 albums, and I said "no fucking way is that possible." out loud in the library.

Tom_Delonge (October 6, 2009)

It's a circular narrative in may ways where it kind of sums up the human race in a time capsule.

the_creeps (October 6, 2009)

hey, my band sold 30 copies --- does that count?

2+ Replies

IamtheAvatar (October 6, 2009)

Mine gave out 100. Beat that.

telegraphrocks (October 6, 2009)

Hand-made 100 copies each with different artwork... sold ALL of them (as "whatever you want to pay". Lowest paid- 5 cents. Highest paid- $10)

IamtheAvatar (October 6, 2009)

I'd concede, if only for the individual artwork for each copy.

telegraphrocks (October 6, 2009)

That was, by far, the best part of the whole thing. Six of us sitting around a kitchen table for approximately 8 hours hand-drawing every single one. Crayons, markers, pencils, ketchup, glue, sparkles, newspapers... it was such a fucking blast!
Oh, we were all drunk too, so that definitely helped.
Kind of wished I kept just one for myself though...

nick_s (October 6, 2009)

A format that is slowly becoming obselete is decreasing in sales, followed by most people will take something for free if they can, it's rocket science!

BigP (October 6, 2009)

Jesus Christ I hate the fucking world. And the Beatles

eunomi (October 6, 2009)

Correction for the article: CDs are digital.

(And most vinyl pressed today is pressed from the same digital file the CD is made from, but keep that one quiet... we don't want to irk the luddites on this site...)

xmarkax (October 7, 2009)

Does this include all independent record labels? Does it include vinyl? Does it include records sold through online distros such as Revhq/Interpunk etc? I now labels such as deathwish/bridge 9/rivalry etc will sell over a thousand copies of most records that they put out on vinyl alone. While I have no doubt that the over 250,000 copies figures are correct I have my suspecions on the other figures. Does fat wreck report their figures?

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