Sales Down, Hopes Up—3/11/09
Sales for the week ended 3/8/2009 were only notable if your artist is called U2 who debuted at the top of the list with a remarkable (especially in this day and age) showing of 484,000 units. Equally impressive was the band’s higher-than-normal digital share which equaled 32%. Neko Case’s No. 3 Top 200 chart debut (44,300) lacked enough momentum to pass Taylor Swift who edged into the No. 2 spot with 52,285 units.
Once again the country sales story was a parable of lowered expectations evidenced by Top 75 Current Country total sales totaling a mere 302,853 units. Sales of the two Swift CDs (both Top 10) accounted for almost 22% of the total Top 75 list. Plant/Krauss (15,165), Darius Rucker (14,490), Zac Brown (14,092), Sugarland (10,899), Carrie Underwood (9,628), Dierks Bentley (9,087), Jamey Johnson (8,906) and Jake Owen (8,452) rounded out the Top 10. Overall 2009 YTD country album sales are off 15.3%, but country’s overall market share is holding steady at about 10% compared to 10.5% at this time last year.
Sales numbers do not always tell the entire story. One must also look behind the stats to see product releases both present, past and future. Therefore on a more upbeat note, CD hope is on the horizon. March 24 will bring upcoming discs from Martina McBride, John Rich and Eric Church. New Keith Urban and Rodney Atkins CDs drop March 31 and on April 7 fans will hopefully also lineup for new music from Rascal Flatts, Jason Aldean and Emerson Drive.
- Exclusive: Meghan Trainor Entices Nashville On Untouchable Tour - August 8, 2016
- Weekly Register: SoundScan Discounts Jay Z Promotion; 'The Voice' Reigns - June 26, 2013
- Weekly Register: An Unstoppable Freight Train - June 19, 2013
I hope we (the industry) can find a way to capitalize off of the new medium, this is getting real bad. One thing is, in the heartland of America, you can’t find a record store to buy music in. I don’t want the edited music from Wal-mart and Target. Then the other chain stores (Best Buy, Circuit City, Etc.) are confusing the consumer when you walk in. All the titles are kinda jumbled in to one. And the displays make it hard to find things.
When you go online, that’s even worst with all the choices. It’s like, what do I choose? There is defiantly good music out there but it hard to find. Record companies are only going with what they think is a sure thing, but even then 85% of that sucks. So this makes them shy away from putting out any new music. If you have a track recorded then they give you some advertising, but if they don’t get the numbers they expect, then they pull the money. A perfect example of this is the MC=2 record my Mariah Carey. People lost their jobs because she didn’t eclipse the numbers of the previous album.
The problem with the album was they tried to make the same album, no growth. I still did 1.4 (I think).
I think we (Record Companies) got spoiled when times where good. When everything was selling, and people were buying new CD to replace the old tapes because they sounded better. Or when you could put together a good campaign, and every stations listeners bought in.
A lot of people blame hip hop. Cause there numbers were so big. And still believe there was a campaign to cool it off. With all of the censorship and the pushed back albums, budget cuts to those departments, the complete elimination of the black departments, all that was a message to I think to let them know they were getting to big for there britches.
Some blame it on the music trends changing, but when has jazz, bluegrass, blues, soundtracks for movies consistently sold albums like the hip hop and rock albums of years pass? But those budgets are still approved, studio still booked, albums still are put out, concerts still booked, they still get the televised performance on the Grammy show. No matter what you are going to see that preformace. And they don’t expect the big numbers.
We need to figure out something, fast.
Forch Fabalon: Previous foot soldier for WEA in the south
Rescal Flatts, Keith Urban may do well. The others will go largly unnoticed. Martina? Hard to say. The digital revolution is just beginning in country music. Adapt or be washed away. The CD is dead. Radio doesn’t matter. Next?
Forch:
Target doesn’t sell edited CDs.