Digital Music Sales Decline for First Time Since Opening of iTunes Music Store

[thepowerofnone]

I think people confuse a year of absolutely terrible music with doom and gloom for online sales and music execs are trying to avoid saying "we released nothing of note this year".

I buy most of my music through iTunes and with the exception of three large albums (one of which was free) I have added maybe just 50 songs to my collection this year. Half of those weren't released this year.

 

[BornAgainApple]

On another note Blurred Lines is possibly the worst song I've heard in a decade, it is a rape anthem that is seedy and has a horrid message. I cringe when I hear it. The fact it has been so popular says a lot about society I suppose and should be a bit disconcerting.

Agreed. Not trying to defend the guy, but a lot of Prince's "music" was pretty degrading of women too.

 

[LastQuadrant]

For you. 2013 was actually an incredible year for indie music (which is basically the new alternative/rock). As for music pushed by the major labels, I can't comment.

Indy music is just small record labels, it's actually not specific to a particular genre. I do stay away from CD Baby, that place is a scam business. They don't even check to ensure the stuff they post and distribute is actually legal to sell. I've caught unsellable demos on their stupid site and those LOSERS took them over a year to take them off the market, meanwhile they are making money and the musicians on the tracks that didn't sign release forms aren't making a dime. So I kind of have to know which artists are legit and which ones aren't before I spend money on ANYTHING that is sold through CD Baby.

The download industry needs to do a better job ensuring that what they are selling is legit. I found out it's a felony to sell unreleased content after you hit the 100 mark. up to 5 years in prison for each violation and up to $250K for each violation and that's just from the Feds. For each copyright holder, it's up to $150K per violation. Personally, I think the Feds should just shut down CD Baby since a large amount of their content is illegal to sell/distribute. I've run into a lot of musicians/singers that were recorded and they never signed legal contracts allowing for digital download.

 

[scottsjack]

Here is my order of preference for buying music;

1. HDTracks highest def available.

2. CDs.

3. iTunes download.

Occasionally I will buy an iTunes download as an experiment to see if I like something. On the radio "We Can't Stop" by Miley Cyrus sounded like it had some interesting things going on so I downloaded it from iTunes to check it out.

As it turned out "We Can't Stop" has some great engineering and mixing in it. I bought the CD from Amazon and really like several of the tracks. The CD version of "We Can't Stop" sounds far superior to the iTunes version even with moderate headphones plugged into an iPhone 5C. If HDTracks had offered it I would have gotten it there.

Quality music is so much better to listen to than download quickie-trash even though Apple has done a great job at maximizing sound quality on a way too small file size.

 

[Gherkin]

I just bought a turntable.

I had been buying MP3 albums for the past 2 years or so but realized that most of the bands I listen to sell vinyl with a download code. It was nice knowing ya iTunes Music Store, Amazon MP3 and Google Music. See ya!!

 

[roadbloc]

You didn't really roll your eyes did you?

How old do you have to be to remember CDs?'
And Vinyl went out in 1988.

Yes. Vinyl is dead.

 

[thehustleman]

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For the first time since the opening of the iTunes Music Store in 2003, digital music sales have decreased year-over-year, reports Billboard.

In 2013, sales of individual digital tracks declined 5.7% from 1.34 billion units to 1.26 billion units, while digital album sales fell to 117.6 million units from 117.7 million units in 2012. The report notes that industry executives have cited music streaming services for the regression in digital music sales. Music streaming providers experienced a surge in popularity during 2013, as major services such as Spotify, Pandora, and Rdio announced new free listening tiers for users in the wake of Apple launching iTunes Radio. Apple is also said to be expanding iTunes Radio service to the U.K, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand within the first few months of 2014, ahead of competitor Pandora's own expansion.

Overall, album sales as a whole declined 8.4% in 2013, dropping to 289.4 units from nearly 316 units in 2012, with physical CD sales declining 14.5% to 165.4 million units from 193.4 million units in the prior year. iTunes also saw its market share rise to account for 40.6% of total U.S. album sales, as Robin Thicke's "Blurred Lines" became the year's best selling single with 6.5 million tracks sold.


Article Link: Digital Music Sales Decline for First Time Since Opening of iTunes Music Store

Not surprised.

Music sucks.
. Digital music was declining for a while, first CD'S then downloads. Both forms of digital music are going to fall more

 

[edgonzalez32]

Man, I still buy CDs. At 24, my friends make serious fun of me.

 

[pubwvj]

Everyone's bought all the music. No need for more. Not enough hours in a life time to enjoy it all. End of the world for recording companies. Indie rules.

The RIAA's response will be to force a change of format that makes all of our old data useless. For example, Apple will conspire with them to not provide legacy support so that every five years you'll have to repurchase all of your media. Oh, wait, that's what they're working on now!

 

[peterdevries]

On another note Blurred Lines is possibly the worst song I've heard in a decade, it is a rape anthem that is seedy and has a horrid message. I cringe when I hear it. The fact it has been so popular says a lot about society I suppose and should be a bit disconcerting.

Not defending the song here, but in many non-english speaking countries this song was also very popular. Most people in those countries probably do not know what the song is about.

And we can get all worked up about one mainstream pop-song, but I think we should not forget what a lot of hip-hop music is about.

 

[bushido]

you guys sound like hipsters before it was a thing

just enjoy what you like, imagine if everyone had the same taste. tragic

 

[peterdevries]

Yes. Vinyl is dead.

With approx. 500.000 LP's sold on a UK population of approx 50 million, that is about 1 LP per 100 inhabitants.

I like it that people still buy LP's but that's a tiny niche market at best compared to the rest, and most likely a not very profitable one.

 

[antonis]

Why is this fact connected to the music stores and not to the product itself ?
What if the new music produced is worst year by year ?

 

[lolkthxbai]

While SoundScan has not yet released its annual streaming numbers numbers, so far industry executives have been reporting that the growth in streaming revenue has been offsetting the decline in digital sales revenue.

Typo?

 

[peterh988]

What happens to song writing?

 

[BornAgainApple]

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I bet she dedicated that to Mariah Carey

 

[LethalWolfe]

Well, there is one gigantic difference between now and say 10-20 years ago. Artists nowadays don't need to be able to sing, read notes or play an instrument, because everything can be created and altered digitally. Again, look at Britney: used to be a pretty face, but she can't sing, her music is written by someone else and she couldn't play an instrument to save her life. She is a pure digital product.

I like lots of current music artists such as Timberlake and Katy Perry, but there is no way in hell that these compare to the likes of Muse, Pink Floyd, or Genesis in terms of artistic quality and musicianship.

Don't forget other super-fantastic artists of yesteryear like the The Little Dippers, The Road Apples and K.C. and the Sunshine Band. It's easy to go back decades and handpick the very few bands that have stood the test of time but for every Pink Floyd there were thousands of other bands from the same era that no one will remember.


It's no surprise that digital music sales are slowing down as every new format or product slows once it starts reaching a market saturation point.

 

[JawnVawka]

It's funny seeing a bunch of comments about how music this year has been horrible. It's only been horrible if you actually listen to the radio/mainstream music. I have not listened to the radio in over 10 years. I've discovered a bunch of great bands thanks to spotify and if I like them I'll go out and buy the vinyl or CD if there is no vinyl available.

 

[NewbieCanada]

Another seldom-mentioned factor is that young people are spending more time texting and less time listening to music.

You can do both simultaneously.

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With approx. 500.000 LP's sold on a UK population of approx 50 million, that is about 1 LP per 100 inhabitants.

I like it that people still buy LP's but that's a tiny niche market at best compared to the rest, and most likely a not very profitable one.

And considering that the people who do buy LPs probably buy several a year, it's likely that only 1 out of 500 to 1500 people are buying them at all.

 

[gnasher729]

Well, I've been buying 24 Bit versions of my favorite albums that have been released. Hopefully, they'll start offering more. I prefer to buy music where the entire album is worth having rather than the typical one or two songs. That's a major problem with most of the music being released in the last decade or two. Not many artists can actually spit out an entire CD's worth of music that's worth listening to.

I think Apple is eventually going to get 24 bit AAC files on iTunes and upgrade all of their devices (iPods, iPhones, iPads, and Macs) with 24 bit DACs. I think that might start happening in about a year or so as it becomes cheaper to install a better DAC.

The problem is that you belong to a tiny minority. There are so many people using earphones or even holding a phone to their ears, 24 bits is just wasted on them. I think what Apple does with their "made for iTunes" program is a good compromise (compressing from the best possible masters and careful check for clipping), you get decent quality with some good speakers or headphones.

 

[Razeus]

I get the best of both worlds, buying on Amazon. I buy the CD and get the mp3 version for free.

 

[nt5672]

Just got a turntable from my son for Christmas, have not listened to vinyl for a lot of years. He wanted to hear the difference between vinyl and CD. I think after years of hearing badly produced music, quality will make a comeback. Don't know if it has started yet.

The problem for music companies is that the crap production quality is instantly recognizable to everyone once you hear a version produced well (vinyl, soundtracks, or some HDTracks). The more these grow the more trouble it spells for the music companies.

If we want good music in the future we need to educate our children about musical quality, not style. Musical style is personal preference; what you grew up with, became used to, or what you like.

Some will say today's teen doesn't have the time to seriously listen to music, yet they sit and play video games, text friends, email, surf the web, or otherwise spend hours in their room or in front of a TV (just like we did). They have lots of time to listen to music. The problem is today's pop music (that they are expected to enjoy based on peer pressure and media hype) fatigues the ears and to a large extent its message is superficial or just exists for its shock value. It's hard to connect with that and I believe that music companies will lose unless they can put that connection back into the music.

 

[iSunrise]

The newer 256kbps versions of music on iTunes is sonically not that bad especially if you have a decent DAC. I'm digging on concert downloads from Wolfgangsvault as they are spitting out 320kbps MP3's which aren't too bad. Paying $5 for a full concert is reasonable, even though it's soundboard recordings. Or for the really good versions, I go to places like HD Tracks and get 24 bit versions.

Vinyl is getting expensive since to get a good turntable/cartridge and phono pre amp, it's far more expensive than a good USB DAC. Plus you have to invest in a good record cleaning system to get rid of the pops and clicks. Digital audio has come a long way since it's introduction as they are learning how to actually get even 16 bit to sound better. It's all about the quality of the DAC, clocking, noise isolation, and better output stages.

Sonically they may be acceptable for some, but if you look closer, you will find some strange things with the way Apple processed the original masters.

Some of the iTunes Match replaced AAC tracks I got from iTunes were quite horrible, not because of the compression itself, but because Apple seems to use a volume maximizer on the tracks, which is very, very bad. I just hate it when some post-process alters the original masters that already were painstakingly mastered by the recording studios. Not all of them, of course, even some official ones are mastered quite horribly.

I love iTunes Match, but if Apple would let us match complete lossless tracks, we would at least have the option to download compressed versions for mobile devices and better versions (lossless) at home. (I´m not sure on this, but I guess Apple already uses some kind of on-the-fly transcoding done at their site, where they have the lossless versions). At least this would be the best solution, it would make everyone happy. Unfortunately this is probably never going to happen, because either of processing/licencing or other reasons.

I´m not even sure if the big labels actually allow you to offer the lossless masters online, so even if Apple would consider going that direction, labels would probably hold them back.

 

[Brandon263]

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Selective much?

Nicki Minaj:

Everybody wanna try to box me in
Suffocating every time it locks me in
Paint their own pictures then they crop me in
But I will remain where the top begins
Cause I am not a word, I am not a line
I am not a girl that can ever be defined
I am not fly, I am levitation
I represent an entire generation
I hear the criticism loud and clear
That is how I know that the time is near
So we become alive in a time of fear
And I ain't got no mother****ing time to spare
Cry my eyes out for days upon days
Such a heavy burden placed upon me
But when you go hard your nay's become yay's

I wish today it will rain all day
Maybe that will kinda make the pain go away
Trying to forgive you for abandoning me
Praying but I think I'm still an angel away
Angel away, yeah strange in a way
Maybe that is why I chase strangers away
They got their guns out aiming at me
But I become Neo when they're aiming at me
Me, me, me against them
Me against enemies, me against friends
Somehow they both seem to become one
A sea full of sharks and they all smell blood
They start coming and I start rising
Must be surprising, I'm just amazing
I win, thrive, soar, higher, higher, higher

Led Zeppelin:

Oh oh oh oh ohh ohh
You don't have to go oh oh oh ohh,
You don't have to go oh oh oh ohh,
Ahh baby, babe please, please, please, please.

Ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah baby.
Ah-ah I really love you baby.
Ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh darlin'.
Ohh~oh~ohh. Oh~ooh~oh.

Oh oh oh oh ohh ohh yeah. Fine.
Ah ah ah ah ahh ahh oh~oh~oh~oh. Fine.
Ah-ah-ahh-ahh-ahh.
Oooh__~ooh~hooh Fine. yeah.
Ah baby, baby, Fine. baby.

 

[JawnVawka]

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You are listening the the wrong music. Look at these lyrics from Home Away From Here by Touché Amoré

I’m coming to terms that I’m not concerned
With planting my feet but moving onward
I’m growing older but I can't get over
The need of colder skin when I know that home is warmer
It's just that I have this problem
Where I want to be everywhere I’m not
But I’m thankful for what I’ve got
A room in a house where my bed may stay
But the feel of another’s sheets help keep my demons away
It’s become clear that what keeps me here
Is that sense of failure and other nightmares
I’ve become jaded and I can’t escape it
The thought of settling when I know it's what I hated
It's just I have this problem
Where I want to be everywhere I’m not
It's just I know myself and I’ll sacrifice everything I’ve got
Though I can’t afford to eat as much as I would like to be
And my bills won’t pay themselves so I’ll come up with another scheme
This place looks better from a passenger window
Or when stared at from up above
But when you’re chasing brightness
You'll lose concern with the damage done
It's not my fault
I’ll try to call
No ties no roots I'm fine.