A really interesting followup study would be to see what percentage of the never-bought songs have been fileshared/torrented. If most of these songs don't even get stolen, it would be a serious indictment of the RIAA's talking points. And also sad.

Unless I missed something, this article didn't say that all these available songs were new releases. If I own a CD, I load it into iTunes, not buy the songs again.

So what? That's the wrong question to ask about the long tail. The question to ask is, of the music that sold, what percentage of it is popular enough to be on the shelf at Wal-Mart? If the sales are split 50/50 between the popular head and the long tail, then it's worth the price to keep all 13 million songs of the long tail in stock, since the price per song is basically zero.

FTFA: "Of the 1.23 million available, only 173,000 were ever bought, meaning 85 per cent did not sell a single copy all year, meaning 85 per cent did not sell a single copy all year."

This is obviously a new writing trend. "Some people will only skim your article. So if there is a key point that you want to emphasize, attract their attention by repeating exactly the same phrase several times in a row, repeating exactly the same phrase several times in a row."

KickahaOta: FTFA: "Of the 1.23 million available, only 173,000 were ever bought, meaning 85 per cent did not sell a single copy all year, meaning 85 per cent did not sell a single copy all year."

This is obviously a new writing trend. "Some people will only skim your article. So if there is a key point that you want to emphasize, attract their attention by repeating exactly the same phrase several times in a row, repeating exactly the same phrase several times in a row."

Hey, I had a process patent on that since my college drinking days.

You'll be hearing from my lawyers.

Nickelback latest album sales:
As of December 22, sales of Dark Horse stand at around 1,300,000

I think that 1 fan submitter speaks of has a lot of money to throw around.

OK i realize Nickleback is generic and usually crap, but subby is full blown retard if he thinks they dont sell and make millions

holy crap...Nickelback apologists!!!

/runs and hides

Mr_Ectomy: holy crap...Nickelback apologists!!!

/runs and hides

SHUN THEM! SHUN THEM!

KickahaOta: FTFA: "Of the 1.23 million available, only 173,000 were ever bought, meaning 85 per cent did not sell a single copy all year, meaning 85 per cent did not sell a single copy all year."

This is obviously a new writing trend. "Some people will only skim your article. So if there is a key point that you want to emphasize, attract their attention by repeating exactly the same phrase several times in a row, repeating exactly the same phrase several times in a row."

"This town is a part of us all, a part of us all, a part of us all."

/damn well better not be obscure

Pretty impressive really, considering that 12.95 million are crappy vanity tunes.

Tenebreux: SHUN THEM! SHUN THEM!

GET THE JIMI HENDRIX HOLY WATER

Well, it takes a long time to listen to 10 million songs.

wejash: Hey, I had a process patent on that since my college drinking days.

You'll be hearing from my lawyers.

And you'll be hearing from Jimmy Two-Times.

Are they including every "snocap" section on every garage band's myspace page in that tally. That might help explain it.

ErikShocker: "This town is a part of us all, a part of us all, a part of us all."

/damn well better not be obscure

No, the lemon tree episode is in no way obscure.
/Curse those handsome devils!

The stuff that doesn't sell includes stuff like Vanilla Ice's comeback album. Anyone buying Britney Spears' first album at this point? The Baha Men? Spice Girls debut?

Didn't think so.

173 thousand different albums were bought. How many albums does your local Tower Records or Virgin Megastore or whatever have in stock? Half that? A tenth? A hundredth?

Nobody really thinks in terms of "albums" anymore, is all this means.
"Quit giving us ten crappy songs and two good ones!" Well now you can just buy the good ones.

With digital, the trend will be to release fewer tracks at a time, just more often.
The stuff that would have been "album cuts" will just get put out for free instead.

Boobies: "Quit giving us ten crappy songs and two good ones!" Well now you can just buy the good ones.

listen to better artists then. Quit buying shiat you know you won't have more than 1 good song, of which you probably won't listen to 6 months down the line as it becomes the next Ice Ice Baby.

FeedTheCollapse
Boobies: "Quit giving us ten crappy songs and two good ones!" Well now you can just buy the good ones.

listen to better artists then. Quit buying shiat you know you won't have more than 1 good song, of which you probably won't listen to 6 months down the line as it becomes the next Ice Ice Baby.

Word to your mother!

FeedTheCollapse: listen to better artists then. Quit buying shiat you know you won't have more than 1 good song, of which you probably won't listen to 6 months down the line as it becomes the next Ice Ice Baby.

The point is that the medium has changed. People made albums because they had
to fill an LP. CDs were sized specifically for symphonies. etcetc

We're now back to the singles format. Nobody's gonna get rich anymore doing it
like you're talking about, and it has nothing to do with quality of music.
Don't worry though, most of the industry doesn't understand it either.

Boobies: We're now back to the singles format. Nobody's gonna get rich anymore doing it
like you're talking about, and it has nothing to do with quality of music.
Don't worry though, most of the industry doesn't understand it either.

I fully agree that the CD format was an awful medium for singles. the fact that the music industry ignored that outlet didn't help either. Nor do I think that we're going to see any Beatles of Zeppelin-size bands that will strike it rich without touring nonstop.

I'm more annoyed by "wah! you only have one or two good songs!" It seems to come from assholes with awful, disposable tastes in music.

FeedTheCollapse: I'm more annoyed by "wah! you only have one or two good songs!" It seems to come from assholes with awful, disposable tastes in music.

Yeah, the article sorta vindicates that. The industry was able to sell so many CDs
with the one or two good songs because basically the audience let 'em get away with it.
Nowadays they can just go to iTunes or wherever and get that song or two they want.
The rest become part of the ten million unsold tracks from the article.

I'd like to believe this rewards the better artists in the end, since theoretically
they'd have more individual songs that people would find worth buying,
but in any case the music business is gonna have to make some big changes soon.

I officially declare shenanigans on this article.

/Everybody get your brooms

NSFW


Chad does his thing: =D (new window)

Hah, they surveyed the profit outlets. Duh. File sharing is a more intrinsic and specialty channel. I'd flat out compare sales of Faith No More versus illicit net traffic...the same market that buys new Rascal Flatts CDs for their Moms buy the album on iTunes. Stunning.

And to think all this time I've been exploring back catalogs by picking up used CDs for $2 a pop. Soundtracks are great fun, imports, whatever. Oh, and backing them up in 256 makes it worth the effort (batch chore easy).

Nevermind the fact that musicians are giving shiat away for free at an unprecedented rate. So what if it's on a myspace page. If the biz could find a way to charge for listening to unsigned acts, they'd have done it by now.

/keep the internet weird

I hope you aren't implying, subby, that no one bought "John Barleycorn" by Howlin' Gael.

I was listening to Nickelback before anyone knew who they were, back before they sold out and stuff.

Bhasayate: NSFW


Chad does his thing: =D (new window)

Yeah, he really does look cuter with something in his mouth, especially a shotgun barrel.