Music Biz Laments "Worst Year Ever"

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"...As the majors stumbled, independent labels gained market share, accounting for eighteen percent of CD sales in '05. Indie labels proved especially adept at Internet marketing via outlets like MySpace; the emo label Victory Records sold 558,000 copies of Hawthorne Heights' album The Silence in Black and White without radio play. And several hip indie acts -- the Arcade Fire, Interpol and Bright Eyes -- sold more than 250,000 copies each. The indie model of earning profits on a broad range of small-scale releases, rather than focusing on blockbusters, may offer a new direction for the majors...." [Rolling Stone]

posted at 1:40 PM on January 17, 2006 in music | Comments (9)

Comments (9)

The music industry better start getting used to the idea of the Long Tail. It's the future of the music industry and IMO retail in general as the internet becomes a bigger part of peoples lives.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_long_tail

Posted by Joe | January 17, 2006 2:53 PM

NYTimes (in the article on orchard music, no longer online) reported indie record sales at 27%.

the long tail will continue to only be applicable in markets where it applies (I.E. where storage costs are negligable)

Posted by adam | January 17, 2006 3:21 PM

whups, NYTimes link.

long tail should apply to itunes and msn music, but either they don't want to store all those albums, or our favorite labels aren't allowing that music to be sold.

Posted by adam | January 17, 2006 3:26 PM

"long tail should apply to itunes and msn music, but either they don't want to store all those albums, or our favorite labels aren't allowing that music to be sold."

True as of now. But as the internet gets more ubiquitous I think it's going to have more of a impact. Imagine having a IPod always connected to a Wi-Fi connection and being able to buy songs while walking down a street.

Posted by Joe | January 17, 2006 4:29 PM

Never heard of this "long tail" effect, but it makes perfect sense. And I hope it does shake the major labels to some degree.

Posted by Brandon | January 17, 2006 5:08 PM

hawthorne heights sold 550k? jeez...

Posted by sam | January 18, 2006 9:28 AM

When is the strokes show??!?!?!

Posted by Anonymous | January 18, 2006 10:42 AM

The extra percentage cited in the NY Times includes Indie labels who are distributed through majors. Obviously, the indies are doing a better job promoting online and through grass-roots efforts, but it also speaks to the quality of music. This isn't so say that major label acts suck, blah blah, all that crap...but simply that there is more choice out there.

Additionally, expect to see less music on the shelves, especially independent labels, because they know folks will buy them through amazon.com and iTunes. As for the indie record stores, it doesnt look good, but lets hope a few of them stick around.

Posted by D.J. | January 18, 2006 6:42 PM

I went into Virgin music the other day (had not been in for over a year) and it seemed like it was heading to Tower records land...
dead in there. But all th e CD's were now 20 bucks and I understood why people steal music.

Posted by morty | January 19, 2006 4:26 PM