Trends News

Two-Thirds of All Albums Purchased in the US Are Still CDs...

Source: Digital Music News
January 5, 2012

The flat, clunky, physical CD isn't going anywhere, at least not in 2012. According to year-2011 breakdowns just shared by Nielsen Soundscan, more than two-thirds of all albums purchased in the US were physical CDs. Out of a total of 330.6 million albums sold during the year—across all configurations—a healthy 223.5 million were discs, or 67.6 percent.

That follows an even more extreme breakdown from the UK. Just a few days ago, label group BPI revealed that 76.1 percent of ...

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Bandcamp Rings up $1 Million in December Sales. New Stats Prove Direct-to Fan's Potential

Source: HypeBot
January 5, 2012

New numbers from Bandcamp show that in December alone artists using the site grossed more than $1 million in music and merch sales, bringing the total to-date to $12.6 million. But the most promising insight from Bandcamp is proof that more and more fans are paying for music that they probably set out to get for free. A few months ago, Bandcamp began tracking the starting point of every sale that happens on the site and shre share these examples ...

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Believe It, or Not: Major Labels Say Sales Improved in 2011...

Source: Digital Music News
December 28, 2011

Everyone loves a good fairytale for the holidays, so here's another one. Ahead of the official count, major labels are now claiming a slim 1 percent album sales increase over last year, based on preliminary stats from Nielsen Soundscan. The 'bottom' is being powered by heavy-sellers like Adele, Michael Buble, Justin Bieber, Jason Aldean, and Drake, who are likely to put year-2011 sales in the 350 million range (US only).

Also check out: “The History of Recording Industry Sales, 1973-2010...“ ...

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Does the Music Industry Spend Its Own Money on Music? [survey Results]

Source: HypeBot
December 14, 2011

Intro: Two Mondays ago, I left work early with a migraine. After a long shower and a nice nap, I woke up completely in a daze like any time I nap. I was in the mood for something laid back. At that moment I got an email that Sigur Ros was doing a “Cyber Monday" email blast to promote the various package options for their new live DVD/album Inni. I made the impulse buy and dropped $58 on the Vinyl/DVD ...

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What's Selling This Christmas? Christmas Music, That's What....

Source: Digital Music News
December 8, 2011

If you want to sell music this Christmas, try making it about Christmas. During the most recent sales week in the US, more than one-third of chart-topping albums were Christmas-themed, a ratio that could increase heading into the 25th. Actually, the numbers are better than that: 75 titles on thelatest Billboard 200—or 37.5 percent—were all about Christmas. The list starts with Michael Buble's appropriately-titled Christmas, which has now crossed sales of one million after just a few weeks. But anyone ...

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Traditional Radio Advertising Has Been Increasing for Nearly Two Years...

Source: Digital Music News
November 19, 2011

No, traditional radio isn't booming. But it's also not dying: not yet, and not in this economy: according to financial figures shared today by the Radio Advertising Bureau, traditional advertising revenues have been gaining for seven consecutive quarters, or nearly two years.

These aren't champagne-popping gains, but they do reflect a certain level of resilience. During the latest quarter, overall advertising revenues lifted 2 percent to $4.53 billion, and year-to-date revenues are also up 2 percent to $12.89 billion. The ...

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Study: Spotify is Detrimental to Music Purchasing...

Source: Digital Music News
November 16, 2011

Spotify and similar access models are discouraging other forms of music purchasing—not encouraging them—according to a recently-released finding from NPD Group and NARM. In fact, access has been deemed 'most detrimental' to monetization across nearly all demographic categories.

This is from the report, released a few days ago and shared with Digital Music News. In the above slide, 'Committed' fans are the most dialed-in, die-hard music demographic, while 'Casual' and 'Content' represent the least dedicated. In almost every category, respondents ...

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Digital Music Sales on Track to Rise 7% in 2011

Source: HypeBot
November 9, 2011

Digital music revenues are on track to rise about 7% globally to $6.3 billion according to a new study be respected research firm Gartner. But revenues from declining CD sales are not expected to make up for the rise in digital revenue led by iTunes and the growing momentum of digital streaming services like Spotify and Pandora. By 2015, Gartner forecasts digital music sales to hit $7.7 billion from $5.9 billion in 2010. In the same period, consumer spending on ...

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