Album Sales predictions-What do you think?

[ELVIS]

Catchy & interesting.

Thanks Vaijuju.

No, lame and boring...

[DLR Bridge]

No, lame and boring...

No. Your bad moon's permanent.

[minkahed]

No. Your bad moon's permanent.

Was that a joke ?

[Hardrock69]

Why yes it is.

[mumpy73]

Without tour support album sales will continue to decrease. If stay frosty gets airplay them something may happen but it's the nature of the industry these days sadly, not a reflection of the quality of the album, which i think is cracking by the way.

[Nitro Express]

It used to be you had to have the album to hear the music but not today. Bands are going to have to raise money on the road now because albums just don't sell like they used to and also for the younger generation music is competing against other entertainment like computer games and such. Rock and roll now for the youth is not as big as it was for us. It's expensive to go to concerts now unlike when we were in high school when you could see a major band for what a pizza costs.

[Hardrock69]

Yes, in the mid-70s it was 3.50 in advance, 4.50 day of show. And the only way to hear any of the album besides the single was to buy the album.

And most of the info you got was word of mouth, or Circus, Cream, or Rolling Stone magazine (this was before RS became an advertising rag disguised as a music mag).

Hell, Wichita, KS did not even have an FM rock radio station for the last half of the 70s......

Ah the good ol' days.......ounce of Columbian Gold was 25 bucks......and a live concert (for the most part) was the only way you could EVER see your favorite bands. Once in awhile your fave bands MIGHT be on Don Kirshner's Rock Concert, or the Midnight Special.....towards the late 70s rock concert films would be shown at mignight showings at some theater on Friday and Saturday.....Song Remains The Same, Woodstock, Jimi Plays Berkeley, Let It Be, Pink Floyd Live At Pompeii, Rolling Stones at Altamont.....

That was pretty much it.

To sound like an old rock and roll fogey, kids these days dunno how lucky they are!

[SilvioDante]

To sound like an old rock and roll fogey, kids these days dunno how lucky they are!

I don't know about that. There are no full albums good enough to buy. Their musical life is a buffet where they pick and choose this one and that one from the iTunes buffet. Record companies don't spend time developing a band. They really can't have a favorite band. They have favorite songs to fight over. When I was a teen, we'd fight over who the best guitar player, best drummer, etc. What do they fight over now? Who the best computer programmer is? As for the exposure, there is something to say for overkill. If I saw and hear Van Halen anytime I wanted, would they be as special to me? I dunno....

And as you know, HR, Nashville really doesn't have a FM rock station (105.9, PLEEZE...)

There are pros and cons to the music industry. The future isn't what it use to be indeed.

[DLR Bridge]

Was that a joke ?

Nah, that was just a playful zinger. Jokes usually have punch lines.

[ZahZoo]

I don't know about that. There are no full albums good enough to buy. Their musical life is a buffet where they pick and choose this one and that one from the iTunes buffet. Record companies don't spend time developing a band. They really can't have a favorite band. They have favorite songs to fight over.

There are pros and cons to the music industry. The future isn't what it use to be indeed.

I'm beginning to think the days of putting out an album may be getting numbered...

As the music business progressed, the amount of music produced by an artist release was primarily dictated by the amount that could be packaged onto the media. That constraint was directly in relation to the technology available at the time. Look at the progression from 10-12 inch 78 vinyl platters, to two song 45's, to full length stereo 33 1/3 record albums. Tape media (reel to reel, 8-track & cassette) lengths just mirrored vinyl standards. By the 70's it meant 10-12 songs about 3 minutes in length give or take. Even today the time length elements still mirror the old standards.

If the technology media were the only constraint... or limiter... hell today you could release an album on thumb drives that would play for a week without break. Surprised no knucklehead has attempted to market something that long yet... but give em time.

I have colleagues in the business looking at a model of having the band produce a song and video about every other month or so over a period of time. Eventually if there's a market they'll compile a body of work and package it. If not, just keep working hard at quality single releases rather than a dozen songs at a pop with maybe 1 or 2 really worth the effort. The way they choose songs to record is based on fan response/reaction during their live shows. This way the minimize studio time/costs and keep fresh product rolling out for the short attention span of the music buying public.

[binnie]

It's simply a reflection of the music industry and - in truth- of the ways in which people listen to music.

When bands sell millions and millions of records, it's not because all of those people want every song on the record but because back in the day they didn't have a choice. You wanted to own 'Billie Jean' then you had to buy 'Thriller' (once the single was deleted). Downloading - legitimately or otherwise -allows the casual fan to by-pass that.

Now is the time when only hardcore fans and musos buy records. Sad but true.

The knock on effect of this is that bands tour more, which is great. Who doesn't want to see legends? But it's short sighted from the industry as a whole as those legends are blocking the progress of younger bands to to top - who will be headling in 20 years when these guys are all in retirement homes of decomposing music?

[VHscraps]

I have colleagues in the business looking at a model of having the band produce a song and video about every other month or so over a period of time. Eventually if there's a market they'll compile a body of work and package it. If not, just keep working hard at quality single releases rather than a dozen songs at a pop with maybe 1 or 2 really worth the effort.

I think that's what the Smashing Pumpkins were doing a year or so ago - a 'single' a month or something.

I think the problem with that, for the artists, is twofold. First, you're doing it digitally, online, which means your new single every month can be easily copied and heard without you necessarily generating enough revenue to keep your band's pecker up for the long game (never mind making it near impossible to build mystique). And you'll need to keep playing a lot of shows to make good cash.

The second thing is maybe more crucial - saturation of your possible market by appearing to be constantly out there - and all so as not to get lost in the wave after wave of media content that we all now pretty much have available. Not a good time to be a rock band.

Personally, I don't want anything that's too easy to get hold of. It's a bit like the 'if it's free it won't be any good' way of looking at the world.

Here's the most obvious example in my experience. Every month I buy several UK monthly music magazines, and they all come with free CDs in the cover - as if THAT'S why people buy the magazines. I have piles of these things, still wrapped. It takes a lot to get me to listen to something that's just there and takes no effort on my part.

[minkahed]

Another week gone by ...

An update ?

Or should we say it's over for this disc ? (sales-wise)

[bueno bob]

At this point, I'd say it's sold about what it's going to. I mean, not unless Stay Frosty hits BIG, which...well...it may or may not, but at this stage, I think it's at the ceiling. Kinda curious why they went with Stay Frosty as opposed to Blood and Fire, Blood and Fire seems to me a lot more, eh, 'radio friendly' for lack of a better term.

[minkahed]

For what it's worth, Springsteen's latest, "Wrecking Ball", fell out of the Top 200 after only 16 weeks with sales of 411,000.

Bruce has been putting out product consistantly for over a decade now, and his 2009, "Working On A Dream" just barely reached Platinum.

The current state of music at retail is really falling apart.

I was told by a friend of mine that Van Halen's 2012, "A Different Kind Of Truth" did surpass 400K in sales.

If anyone has any updates on sales figures, please don't hesitate.