The Death Of The Album

Not that this is news, but it's definitely interesting to finally see some numbers regarding the music business and how it's changed over the last 10 to 20 years.

I remember when the iPod first came out how much I loathed it. To me, it represented everything that was wrong about the direction of music, specifically that the single was replacing the album, which I felt was a step backwards in the development and growth of talented bands making quality music.

This article points out that "more people are engaged with music than ever before", which seems like a good thing. It also points out some staggering numbers, however, regarding album sales–counting both digital and physical sales in their data. For instance, only 2% of the approximately 100,000 albums released last year sold more than 5,000 copies; 17,000 of them sold only 1 (thanks, Mom); 81,000 sold under 100; and just 1,300 sold more than 10,000.

In reality, there are still great bands making great albums. The problem is there just isnt' the financial incentive to encourage that kind of production, which lessens the strength of music as a whole. I wonder what future generations of musicians will do having grown up in an era so dominated by the single.

Click here to read the full article.