Can Adele Save the Music Industry or Just Slow Its Demise?

[marv2]

[QUOTE=mysterysinger;309921]

*BUZZER* Wrong! Aretha was never on Motown...

I'm afraid Aretha has definitely been released on Motown - and to prove it...
Attachment 10653

http://www.discogs.com/Various-The-B...elease/6023549

She never recorded specifically for Motown. Even the duets she did with the Four Tops were for other labels. Like I said, you are reaching.

[marv2]

No, it isn 't. It's because the market, and consumer demands have changed, and the industry is simply responding to that. If you have a problem with not being able to buy a CD, look no further than iTunes, Best Buy, and Walmart.

You have to understand where this dude is coming from. He says what he says because his favorite is no longer in the record industry. Once that special someone releases something then BANG! The record industry is back with a vengeance! LOL!

[midnightman]

I didn't say people weren't buying CDs, but, at least for here in the U.S., they aren't buying them in large quantities anymore, not like even ten years ago. The reasons are because of what I mentioned above, and others.

Yeah I know what you were trying to say lol we're pretty fragmented and divided as it is though. The CDs have not died because there's still a good amount of CD buyers [[me included) but I also love to stream a record as well...

[marv2]

Yeah I know what you were trying to say lol we're pretty fragmented and divided as it is though. The CDs have not died because there's still a good amount of CD buyers [[me included) but I also love to stream a record as well...

I am waiting for the complete resurgence of vinyl before I start buying music again on a regular basis. Throughout the entire "CD era" I purchased less than 200 and probably less that 100 that were new releases.

[midnightman]

I am waiting for the complete resurgence of vinyl before I start buying music again on a regular basis. Throughout the entire "CD era" I purchased less than 200 and probably less that 100 that were new releases.

Time will tell if there will be a vinyl resurgence but it does seem promising... but I think it has to do with how the industry sees how each listener decides to do with music. It's not as monolithic as they think. There's a lot of formats now: vinyl, CD, streams, downloads, cassettes are coming back... so yeah, definitely something that could be figured out in a few years.

But I do hope for y'all's sake that vinyl makes a full comeback.

[jobeterob]

Maybe it's just going to be like TV - many options.

I can't see how they can every hope to recover the buckets of money that was being poured out in the 90's. To me, that seems gone.

[marv2]

Time will tell if there will be a vinyl resurgence but it does seem promising... but I think it has to do with how the industry sees how each listener decides to do with music. It's not as monolithic as they think. There's a lot of formats now: vinyl, CD, streams, downloads, cassettes are coming back... so yeah, definitely something that could be figured out in a few years.

But I do hope for y'all's sake that vinyl makes a full comeback.

The experience in buying vinyl alone cannot be matched! It will hopefully create new manufacturing jobs.......................in this country!

[jobeterob]

But the money running through the business has collapsed.

[midnightman]

The experience in buying vinyl alone cannot be matched! It will hopefully create new manufacturing jobs.......................in this country!

I didn't even think about it like that but you're right.

[marv2]

I didn't even think about it like that but you're right.

We have to learn to start manufacturing consumer goods again in this country. We never had a huge unemployment problem from roughly 1950 -74. We make ZERO cell phones in this country and there is only ONE manufacturer of flat screen tv's in the U.S. and even he has to buy components made elsewhere!

[soulster]

You have to understand where this dude is coming from. He says what he says because his favorite is no longer in the record industry. Once that special someone releases something then BANG! The record industry is back with a vengeance! LOL!

Marv, don't start! We are finally getting this forum back to where it should be after years of the "crap". Don't bring it all back.

Yeah I know what you were trying to say lol we're pretty fragmented and divided as it is though. The CDs have not died because there's still a good amount of CD buyers [[me included) but I also love to stream a record as well...

Just because there are still CD buyers doesn't mean the format is thriving. The number of CD buyers are dwindling in favor of streaming, which I do not like. The main reason I don't like streaming is because the record labels, or the artists, can arbitrarily pull any title off for any reason or no reason. Say you wanted to listen to a Curtis Mayfield album and Warner, or the estate pulls it off the services. That choice is taken away from you without warning.

The good news, of course, is that as people move to streaming, they dump their old CDs. Since Cds are no longer popular, it has been a buyer's market. Often you can get a new or used CD for less that what you could download it for. It's been great for me. I have been buying up all those long sought-after CDs for cheap. But, I rip them to the hard drive/server and play them through software and in the car. The only problem with that is record stores aren't taking used CDs for any money, so, unless I donate them to the library or give them away, they take up space and may as well get dumped into the garbage.

I am waiting for the complete resurgence of vinyl before I start buying music again on a regular basis. Throughout the entire "CD era" I purchased less than 200 and probably less that 100 that were new releases.

The vinyl resurgence is back. Vinyl now accounts for half of all non-streaming music sales. Obviously, what is driving the resurgence is the youth market. The problem is that new vinyl is expensive as hell, and what new plants that are coming online are pressing indie rock, not vintage R&B/funk reissues.

[midnightman]

I didn't say they were thriving, I just said that there's still a hefty number of CD buyers... it was expected to have a big drop but people are being overly dramatic about it.

[jobeterob]

There are still vastly more cd sales than vinyl

The real problem with streaming is they choose what to play; all you get to choose is the genre!

[mysterysinger]

LMAO that doesn't count. Aretha wasn't signed as an artist. Only Motown "connection" is she lives in Detroit and she was close to some of the Motown luminaries like Mary, Florence, Diana, the Four Tops, Smokey, Stevie and the Temptations. Nice try though. Can we move on already? LOL she's also inadvertently connected because some of the songs she performed were Motown originals. But other than that...

Lol - I like to "cheat" now and again!

[marv2]

Lol - I like to "cheat" now and again!

Cheaters never win.................hehehehehehehehehehe.......... .......

[mysterysinger]

Well I notice you were too smart to fall into my trap Marv.

Mind you - could make a good quiz - "which Motown album included"....... Jerry Butler's "Only The Strong Survive" for example? Might make a good thread on its own.

Personally I think I win whenever I listen to my Motown CDs. "Win With A Spin" you could call it.

[marv2]

Well I notice you were too smart to fall into my trap Marv.

Mind you - could make a good quiz - "which Motown album included"....... Jerry Butler's "Only The Strong Survive" for example? Might make a good thread on its own.

Personally I think I win whenever I listen to my Motown CDs. "Win With A Spin" you could call it.

Your evil, diabolical scheme? Mini-Me is now on our side. He's warned us about you!

First thing that came to mind was the documentary "Only the Strong Survive". I will have to do some research to find which Motown album included it.

[arr&bee]

The music industry died the night that[ the singin bunny rabbits] got cheated out of the grammy award for[here comes peter cottontail]by some rappin chipmonks!!

[marv2]

The music industry died the night that[ the singin bunny rabbits] got cheated out of the grammy award for[here comes peter cottontail]by some rappin chipmonks!!

the singin bunny rabbits? Huh? How about when the Smurfs were robbed for best background vocals on Yarborough & Peoples "Don't Stop the Music"!

[arr&bee]

The smurfs???those one hit wonders,the bunny rabbits had real lettuce and they could hop too!!

[marv2]

The smurfs???those one hit wonders,the bunny rabbits had real lettuce and they could hop too!!

The Smurfs would eat the rabbits in a singing contest!

[mysterysinger]

Did you have Pinkie and Perky in the USA?

[marv2]

Did you have Pinkie and Perky in the USA?

No! We had Moose and Squirrel aka Rocky & Bowinkle!

[arr&bee]

no! We had moose and squirrel aka rocky & bowinkle!

haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa aaaa....!!

[jobeterob]

According Nielsen data, digital downloads have been on the decline for the last three years, and CDs even longer.

In 2013 alone, overall album sales in the U.S. saw an 11.2 per cent drop, CD sales were down 15 per cent, digital album sales declined 9.4 per cent and digital song sales went down 12.5 per cent. Music streaming, on the other hand, was up 54 per cent.

[marv2]

According Nielsen data, digital downloads have been on the decline for the last three years, and CDs even longer.

In 2013 alone, overall album sales in the U.S. saw an 11.2 per cent drop, CD sales were down 15 per cent, digital album sales declined 9.4 per cent and digital song sales went down 12.5 per cent. Music streaming, on the other hand, was up 54 per cent.

Probably because these artists that they have been promoting for years made crappy music. Now when there is good music being produced, sales will go up.

[midnightman]

That's why Adele's sales are important tbh... HDD say that her album may be reaching NSYNC's record. Not too many artists influence many to buy the product these days!

[marv2]

No, it isn 't. It's because the market, and consumer demands have changed, and the industry is simply responding to that. If you have a problem with not being able to buy a CD, look no further than iTunes, Best Buy, and Walmart.

or Amazon.com. The CD's I have purchased were mostly from Amazon.

[midnightman]

I need to start purchasing from Amazon. Most of the CDs we all keep looking for are not always in those physical retail stores...

[jobeterob]

U.S. Vinyl Album Sales Up by 53% in Q1
ARTICLESBUSINESSNEWS
By Lars Brandle | April 17, 2015 3:29 AM EDT

Vinyl Record Player
David Herrmann/Getty Images
245
258
0
The vinyl comeback story just keeps on spinning.

New research published just in time for Record Store Day drives home the point: vinyl has been on a real tear over the past half-decade, and the purple patch isn't fading just yet.

According to Nielsen, U.S. album sales between January and March of this year were 53% higher than during the comparable period last year, driven largely by solid gains in catalog album sales. Current releases in the format are also performing well, up by 37% in the first three months compared with the corresponding period last time.

In a wider-angle look at the market, vinyl album sales have grown by 260% since 2009, Nielsen reports, with vinyl unit sales rising to 9.2 million last year, up from 6.1 million in 2013. Check out the graph below.



The best-known band in the history of music has had the best-selling vinyl album since 2010, the Beatles’ classic 1969 release Abbey Road. Nielsen’s top 10 reveals there’s “something in the mix for everyone,” with recordings from Mumford & Sons, Arctic Monkeys, Pink Floyd, Lana Del Rey and Miles Davis appearing. See the list below.



Vinyl remains a niche part of the market, and no-one is saying the old-school format is the saviour of the industry, artists and for entertainment retailers. Consider it a feel-good story in a time when technology and digital streaming models dominate talk on the future of music distribution.

The Resurgence of Vinyl in Seven Graphics: A Breakdown

The IFPI confirmed as much when the trade body published its Digital Music Report earlier in the week. Vinyl sales currently account for “only a small fraction of the overall industry revenues” at around 2%, the IFPI explained, but the format has seen a steady increase, including a 54% jump in 2014. Trade revenue generated by the global recorded music industry in 2014 fell by 0.4 percent to $14.97 billion.

In March, the RIAA noted that vinyl had contributed $320.8 million in revenue in the U.S. last year, 50% up from the $213.7 million generated in 2013.

Vinyl Sales Charts Launch in U.K.

The U.S. gains in vinyl corresponds with similar spikes reported elsewhere. In the U.K., the industry's official charts compiler has just launched vinyl sales charts [[singles and albums) which the OCC says reflects Britain’s “renewed interest in music on vinyl."

For the full year 2014, more than 1.28 million vinyl LPs were sold across the U.K., a figure which hadn’t been reached since 1995 when 1.41 million LPs were sold.

Billboard’s Top Vinyl Chart [[from week 1, 2010 to week 12, 2015)
1. Beatles, “Abbey Road” [[172,000 units)
2. Mumford & Sons, “Sigh No More” [[110,000)
3. Bon Iver, “For Emma Forever Ago” [[102,000)
4. Jack White, “Lazaretto” [[94,000)
5. Arctic Monkeys, “AM” [[89,000)
6. Pink Floyd, “Dark Side of the Moon” [[87,000)
7. Bob Marley & The Wailers, “Legend” [[83,000)
8. Lana Del Rey, “Born To Die” [[81,000)
9. Miles Davis, “Kind of Blue” [[75,000)
10. Black Keys, “Brothers” [[75,000)

[jillfoster]

You see... last year a total of 320 million in sales. I'd say that amount of money is worth SOMEONE'S time. Hate to say it, but Universal is missing the boat, they should be compiling unreleased Motown compilations and putting them on vinyl. Double nostalgia product.

[Bluebrock]

You see... last year a total of 320 million in sales. I'd say that amount of money is worth SOMEONE'S time. Hate to say it, but Universal is missing the boat, they should be compiling unreleased Motown compilations and putting them on vinyl. Double nostalgia product.

Totally agree with you!!!

[midnightman]

You see... last year a total of 320 million in sales. I'd say that amount of money is worth SOMEONE'S time. Hate to say it, but Universal is missing the boat, they should be compiling unreleased Motown compilations and putting them on vinyl. Double nostalgia product.

That just shows you Universal doesn't know what it's doing...

[imnokid]

Thank god Adele has got nothing to do with Motown! BTW IMHO there are far better singers out there who just haven't had the hype that she has. She's not a bad singer, just nothing special. Only my opinion of course.

amen!!!!!!!!!!!

[marv2]

amen!!!!!!!!!!!

I agree. I have listen to a few of her songs and they did nothing for me.

[Guy]

Truth spoken here. I know there are a lot of people pushing Adele as a savior of some type
and that's their right if they wish. I won't her of them but I do take issue with so many ignoring other great voices and artists in the biz on both sides of the pond. Hell, any of the ponds. I still like Jazmine Sullivan, really have fallen in love with relatively new singer Somi
and Alice Smith is one of the most versatile artists I've heard this side of jazz in a long damn
time. If the folks at Motown knew what they were doing they would have signed her...

You just name-checked two of my favorite artists of recent years -- Somi and Alice Smith.

I would not diminish Adele's talent or appeal, she's clearly a distinctive talent if not unique. However, I think she's given a lot of space to be her authentic self as an artist whereas other equally talented artists are not given the same space or hype or acclaim. Many talented female artists are forcibly shoved into 'commercial' boxes that prevent them from presenting as authentic.

[marv2]

You just name-checked two of my favorite artists of recent years -- Somi and Alice Smith.

I would not diminish Adele's talent or appeal, she's clearly a distinctive talent if not unique. However, I think she's given a lot of space to be her authentic self as an artist whereas other equally talented artists are not given the same space or hype or acclaim. Many talented female artists are forcibly shoved into 'commercial' boxes that prevent them from presenting as authentic.

What I see happening is this younger generation hoping for major success of a singer from their generation along the lines of what great artists like Whitney Houston, Aretha, Mariah and even Janet were able to accomplish. But this girl is not in their league. Why does she look so old to be 27?