Date: Wed 4/17/2002 10:50 AM
From: Christopher Elliott ([email protected])
Subject: Slagging Over Sagging CD Sales
The industry can cry piracy all it wants, but one of the most glaring reasons for slipping music sales is the labels force-killing one of its most popular formats, the single in the United States (Slagging Over Sagging CD Sales Apr. 17, 2002).
For the past 10 years, labels have released fewer and fewer singles of popular hits until today there are all but dead in the U.S. They have done this under the false pretense that it "hurts album sales," despite 10 years of Soundscan data that disproves it. A generation of young music buyers have opted to go to the computer rather than being force to pay for a $19 single, which is what many albums are these days.
The public wants singles and is willing to pay for them. It is interesting to note that in the month of March, the No. 1 single in the U.K. was outselling the number one album in the U.S.
It is interesting to note that video/DVD and movie ticket sales are doing well, clearly people want to purchase their entertainment legitimately if given a choice.
The music industry is the only entertainment industry I know that labors under the notion of "this is what you want, and you'll take it whether you like it or not," rather than trying to give the customers what they want.