A thought on an area that I’m going to have to tackle for the book. In 1999, the top 10 albums in the United States generated sales worth over 54.6 $M. By the end of 2008, that figure had fallen to just under $18.7 $M. Yet, 2008 marked a peak of four consecutive years of growth in overall sales of music. What is happening? In 2008, music purchases including both individual tracks and albums of popular and niche musicians totaled 1.5 $ Billion, up from 1.4 $B in 2007, 1.2 $B in 2006, and 1$ in 2005. While sales of the top 10 albums, which of necessity cater to the most widely applicable common audience, have plummeted, the new distribution environment has benefitted consumers who prefer to select specific tracks, rather than entire pre packaged albums. Chris Andersen realized in 2004 that unlimited choice will expand demand rather than contract it. The Internet seems to benefit musicians who do not naturally reside in the top 10 albums category.

The record industry, which relies on the medium of recording as much as it does on musicians, has undergone successive upsets since the nineteenth century phonographs. Edison’s first recording was ‘Mary had a little lamb’ in 1877 on a tinfoil cylinder phonograph. Thereafter, the recording industry has undergone successive periods of turmoil arising from technical transition, first from cylinder to disk, and then from acoustic to electric recording, then to magnetic tape, to the cassette, the 5” compact disk in 1982, the standardization of MP3 (MPEG layer 3) in 1992, and the release of the iPod in 2001. In 2008, sales of individual music tracks sold online surpassed 1 $Billion for the first time, having grown 27% over 2007 sales.

What does this mean for openness and what advice would one who is mapping the key characteristics of the Internet give to record labels? Dodge the mainstream, get small and get niche? Or should one perhaps focus on authentic, engaged musicians that can involve and invest the listener in the creative process? This is a question on which I must consult Peter Martland [see also], who has an encyclopedic knowledge of the record industry… more anon..

Table showing decline in sales of top 10 albums
(Figures from Nielsen Soundscan end of year music industry report 1999 and 2008).