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Music

Album Sales Are Dying as Fast as Streaming Services Are Rising (rollingstone.com) 281

In 2018, Best Buy decided to stop selling CDs, with the change partly brought on by record labels' increasing reluctance to even issue them. Both choices are symptoms as well as causes of a seemingly inevitable trend: Buying music is now going out of style nearly as fast as streaming music is rising. From a report: In 2018, album sales fell 18.2 percent from the previous year and song sales fell 28.8 percent, according to U.S. year-end report figures from data company BuzzAngle, which tracks music consumption. Meanwhile, total on-demand music streams, including both audio and video, shot up 35.4 percent. Audio on-demand streams set a new record high in 2018 of 534.6 billion streams, which is up 42 percent from 2017's 376.9 billion streams.

It's tricky to compare the specific unit numbers of sales to streams --since such a comparison would be pitting continuous playback of a certain piece of music against a one-time purchase of it -- but certain other milestones in the consumption market can help highlight just how much streaming is replacing physical sales and downloads in America. For instance: Even though total song downloads are still in the hundreds of millions, they're coming down in scale at the top. In 2018, there was not a single song that broke 1 million sales -- compared to 14 songs that reached that figure in 2017, 36 in 2016 and 60 in 2015. At the 2 million sales mark, two songs took that trophy in 2017, while five claimed it in 2016 and 16 songs made it in 2015, throwing the modest figures of this year's sales into even sharper relief.

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Album Sales Are Dying as Fast as Streaming Services Are Rising

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  • by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 04, 2019 @09:21AM (#57903938)

    Album Sales Are Dying as Fast as Streaming Services Are Rising

    I'm not a fan of streaming, but there is almost literally no places left where I can go in and buy CDs just by looking through the stacks and seeing what they have -- which is how I've bought music for the last 15+ years. I'd just go in, wander around, and buy a couple of CDs I found.

    If I can't buy it on CD and rip it myself, I'm not interested. I'm definitely not interested in paying to stream music which is then going to be subject to ads and analytics of my information -- I don't trust the streaming services not to be douchy assholes who share my information and violate my privacy, because at this point you have to assume all online stuff is douchy assholes.

    So, I can't go anywhere to buy CDs, I refuse to stream ... which means I simply no longer buy music, and listen to my already very large collection of MP3s ripped from CDs I've bought.

    I miss actual music stores, but at the end of the day, if they don't want to make CDs, and will only give me digital DRM'd versions of the music or be forced to stream it ... then I simply won't buy their product and will get on with my life.

    The music industry didn't adapt to the modern world, and refused to sell a product in the form people wanted. Now, they're losing out on even more revenue.

    • Comment removed based on user account deletion
    • If I can't buy it on CD and rip it myself, I'm not interested.

      Whyever not?

      I'm definitely not interested in paying to stream music

      OK... but why do you want it on CD?

      Amazon have sold DRM free MP3s for years now. You go there click some stuff and get a file.

    • by jwhyche ( 6192 )

      I don't trust the streaming services not to be douchy assholes who share my information and violate my privacy,

      I assume you are talking about services like itunes and spotify. Then don't use them. You can still stream music anonymously from thousands of shoutcast/icecast sites. I use the XiiaLive app on my phone for streams too. There is literally thousands of stations from all over the world. Any kind of music that I want to listen too is here. I just have to look for it. XiiaLive is just one of the apps there are to stream shoutcast. Pick one and explore. Hell, I can even listen to iheartradio dreck if

  • by fbobraga ( 1612783 ) on Friday January 04, 2019 @09:24AM (#57903958) Homepage
    It's so convenient: not depends of internet connection... if you, like me, stay out of a wireless network in a major part of the day, to listen offline is a necessity
    • by mccalli ( 323026 ) on Friday January 04, 2019 @10:18AM (#57904300) Homepage
      Thank you. As a tiny tiny microscopic part of the music industry - hobbyist artist/self-publisher - I keep far more of the revenue from a sale than than from someone streaming. Buy my album? You've bought me a coffee! Thanks. Stream my album? Well, only another thousand or so streams to go and I can get that same coffee...
      • by jwhyche ( 6192 )

        As someone that listens to shoutcast and spotify to find new music, then goes to websites to buy music right from the author. "You're welcome."

        I think streaming has done more to level the playing field than any other service. In less than 15 minutes a artist can set up a shoutcast site and be streaming his music 24/7. I would rather see my money go directly to support an artist than have it go to "big music' pockets any day.

  • by Hydrian ( 183536 ) on Friday January 04, 2019 @09:26AM (#57903970) Homepage

    CD's were always my default fall back when I couldn't find lossless audio compression file formats. Also, CDs are guaranteed to be DRM free. I hope lossless audio becomes more prevalent than it is now.

    • by jwhyche ( 6192 )

      I hate to pop you bubble there but not even CD's are lossless. Every time a analog is converted into digital something is lost. That is just simply the nature of the beast. The trick is to keep the sampling high enough to make the loss negotiable.

  • by Anonymous Coward
    When music gets taken down and there is no physical back up.
  • by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 04, 2019 @09:36AM (#57904004)

    I bought my first CD in 1981, and guess what, it still works. That is close to 40 years old. I've got records that still play from the 70's, albeit with some scratches now. Do you really believe your streaming service will be around in 2060?

    • by hjf ( 703092 )

      No AC, your 1981 CD doesn't work. You know why I know you're full of shit? Because most old CDs, especially the early ones, are being eaten away. Many of my CDs are dying that way. My Michael Jackson's HIStory (two disc, gold color) is unplayable now because it has black spots all over the disc. That was my first CD, from 1996.

      • While CD degradation is a problem, manufacturing quality and care for discs are the biggest contributing factors to disc rot. I have many pre-1996 CDs (I still have my first CD from 1987) and they all play fine on my circa 1994 CD player. I take good care of my CDs (hold them by the edge, don't transport them in my car) and have had few, if any, problems. Maybe you bought into the marketing hype that CDs were indestructable and you treated your first CD poorly?
      • Comment removed based on user account deletion
    • I bought my first CD in 1981, and guess what, it still works. That is close to 40 years old. I've got records that still play from the 70's, albeit with some scratches now. Do you really believe your streaming service will be around in 2060?

      Same here. The first CD I bought was Dark Side of the Moon. I still have it and cdparanoia still thinks the disk is fine.

      The downside of some of those old CDs is that the manufacturers didn't really know how to take advantage of the dynamic range of CDs. On a few of my older disks, I have had to rip them as WAVs, then bump up the volume a bit in Audacity before converting them to mp3.

      That minor inconvenience aside, I much prefer having physical copies that I can re-rip if necessary (as I've done over the y

      • by qubezz ( 520511 )
        That is exactly taking advantage of the dynamic range of CD. Unlike an LP or cassette, there is no technical reason why it has to be maxxed out in volume. In fact, a recording with individual samples that do not exceed -3dB level can go over 0dB analog after oversampling and alias filtering, so it is much better than today's digitally mashed to the maximum volume CDs.
    • CD media ruin over time... no-DRM files are far superior
    • by m00sh ( 2538182 )

      I bought my first CD in 1981, and guess what, it still works. That is close to 40 years old. I've got records that still play from the 70's, albeit with some scratches now. Do you really believe your streaming service will be around in 2060?

      I still have my CDs but all they do is take up space. I'd rather listen to the stream than pop the CD in.

      I look at those old CDs and a wave of memories flows through and I can't get myself to throw them away.

    • by jwhyche ( 6192 )

      Do you really believe your streaming service will be around in 2060?

      Why not? If it is a profitable business model then why should we not assume it will still be here in 20, 40, or even 100 years from now? Disney has been a profitable entertainment industry for almost a 100 years now and shows no sign of slowing down. Comcast, as shitty as it is, has been in business for close to 50 years.

      An if some reason the business model doesn't prove to be viable, something else will come along and take its place.

    • by jwhyche ( 6192 )

      Rush, Presto and Heart, Brigade from 1991 or so. Both still play fine. I'm listening to Presto as I type this.

  • by turp182 ( 1020263 ) on Friday January 04, 2019 @09:40AM (#57904028) Journal

    Doesn't everyone just rip music from YouTube? Certainly good enough for the car, and alternate versions are usually available if one would like (radio sessions, non-released versions, live versions, cover versions, etc.)..

    I just use a tiny USB stick in my car, with MP3 files.

    At home, I gave in and we have Alexa the associated music service. Merry Christmas to me (I'm working on a couple of Skills)!

    I need to run, there's a package from Amazon being delivered....

    • crap music metadata, this way (that is fixed only manually and with big effort...)
  • by Oswald McWeany ( 2428506 ) on Friday January 04, 2019 @09:45AM (#57904062)

    I thought that Video killed the radio star!

    • I was a fan of MTV and the head bangers ball in the 80s and early 90s when it was still about music but then one day it was nothing but back to back jersey shore and pseudo-reality tv.

  • by nagora ( 177841 ) on Friday January 04, 2019 @09:49AM (#57904072)

    The higher-quality, lower price option (CDs) are fading yet the shitty quality high price (vinyl) is going up, albeit slowly.

    I've yet to see any reason to subscribe to a streaming service for music. I suppose if I wanted to enjoy the feeling of listening to artists I like whilst simultaneously knowing that they're being as badly ripped off as I am, I might give it a go.

    • "The higher-quality, lower price option (CDs) are fading yet the shitty quality high price (vinyl) is going up,"

      While I agree that the price of new vinyl is too high (sometimes outrageous), for recordings made more than 30 years ago, I find vinyl is definitely higher quality than CD. (Yes, you need high-quality gear to play it on - nothing new there) I have done a lot of A-B testing on high-end audio gear, mainly of recordings from the 50's thru the 70's and vinyl almost always wins for quality.

      For 'modern'

      • by nagora ( 177841 )

        "The higher-quality, lower price option (CDs) are fading yet the shitty quality high price (vinyl) is going up,"

        While I agree that the price of new vinyl is too high (sometimes outrageous), for recordings made more than 30 years ago, I find vinyl is definitely higher quality than CD.

        While it's true that material recorded with vinyl in mind will sometimes sound better on vinyl, that only really works up until the point where you've dragged a gemstone across it. After that the quality goes audibly downhill pretty rapidly.

        Vinyl is inherently rubbish simply because of its fragility. I hated it even before there was an alternative, and I'm certainly never going back to it.

      • Comment removed (Score:5, Interesting)

        by account_deleted ( 4530225 ) on Friday January 04, 2019 @01:11PM (#57905332)
        Comment removed based on user account deletion
    • by hjf ( 703092 )

      It's callled "fetish". People have a fetish for physical things. I know, I've fell for it.
      And after the couple of times you play that silly record or show it off for friends, you realize it's a stupid purchase. At home I "do" things. I can't sit passively and "listen to music". And if I were the type to do that, I'd have to spend literaly thousands in building a collection of records to keep me busy.
      I can understand why *some* people do it, but I don't see how "millions of people" could be doing it.

      (I haven

    • The higher-quality, lower price option (CDs) are fading yet the shitty quality high price (vinyl) is going up, albeit slowly.

      We're in the Keurig Era.

      H. L. Mencken would've had a field day...

    • I, too, don't get this vinyl hype... may it's only because the size of the cover for the art.

      much "vinyl lovers" think the audio quality is superior from alternatives, which is a very false claim...
  • I buy CD's all the time. I've got a couple of great local new/used music stores. Streaming doesn't work when there's no Internet connection or you want to hear a particular album.
  • by TigerPlish ( 174064 ) on Friday January 04, 2019 @10:08AM (#57904202)

    While y'all are so busy yelling at each other like a divided bunch of little schoolchildren about blue this and red that, you've all been not noticing the corporations (all of them, really) moving to models that reduce or eliminate ownership.

    And what's one of the most tangible ways we had to distinguish ourselves from heathen communists? Ownership. C'mon, boys and girls, all together now: Ow - ner- ship. It's your house, not the State's. It's your car, not the state's.

    It's your music, not theirs.

    But nooooo, you short-sighted, divided morons continue to fight amongst yourselves and you don't see this .. this thievery happening right under your noses.

    • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

      It was never "your music" unless you made it. You never owned it, even on CD. What distinguishes us from communists isn't the ability to buy a Ariana Grande CD.
      • It was never "your music" unless you made it. You never owned it, even on CD. What distinguishes us from communists isn't the ability to buy a Ariana Grande CD.

        I disagree. I would LOVE to see Sony / EMI / RCA / AG / DG / Polydor / MCA / Decca come into my house and retrive my LP / CD of

        You see, you OWN the CD, but not the music in it. But you own the physical object in which said music came in.

        With the "streamers" if they say "Well, no more bad 80's synthpop for YOU" then *poof* there goes your ability to stream that. With no recourse.

        But they absolutely can't reach into your house and remove all your horrible 80's synthpop records and CDs.

        Yet.

        Sounds like some

        • by m00sh ( 2538182 )

          It was never "your music" unless you made it. You never owned it, even on CD. What distinguishes us from communists isn't the ability to buy a Ariana Grande CD.

          I disagree. I would LOVE to see Sony / EMI / RCA / AG / DG / Polydor / MCA / Decca come into my house and retrive my LP / CD of

          You see, you OWN the CD, but not the music in it. But you own the physical object in which said music came in.

          With the "streamers" if they say "Well, no more bad 80's synthpop for YOU" then *poof* there goes your ability to stream that. With no recourse.

          But they absolutely can't reach into your house and remove all your horrible 80's synthpop records and CDs.

          Yet.

          Sounds like some people would love nothing more than to do just that.

          Why is that so hard to see?

          Streaming and CDs are completely different.

          Streaming services gives you access to millions of albums for a monthly fee.

          CDs give you music for one album without a time limit.

          You can buy music per album basis and save it as FLACs/MP3s which does the same thing as CDs.

    • by EvilSS ( 557649 )

      It's your house, not the State's.

      Try not paying your state rent..er..property taxes and see how well that statement holds up.

      • It's your house, not the State's.

        Try not paying your state rent..er..property taxes and see how well that statement holds up.

        I get your point, but it proves the GP's point as much as it proves yours.

        Failure to pay property taxes, at least in my state, turns into a lien, which then turns into a foreclosure. That whole process involves a small mountain of paperwork and a number of lawyers, there are means of appeal, and so on - all of which are meticulously documented and whose procedures are well-defined.

        A tax foreclosure is, basically, by definition, the state reclaiming ownership of the land; there's no easy way to use a house w

    • by m00sh ( 2538182 )

      While y'all are so busy yelling at each other like a divided bunch of little schoolchildren about blue this and red that, you've all been not noticing the corporations (all of them, really) moving to models that reduce or eliminate ownership.

      And what's one of the most tangible ways we had to distinguish ourselves from heathen communists? Ownership. C'mon, boys and girls, all together now: Ow - ner- ship. It's your house, not the State's. It's your car, not the state's.

      It's your music, not theirs.

      But nooooo, you short-sighted, divided morons continue to fight amongst yourselves and you don't see this .. this thievery happening right under your noses.

      You don't own your house. The state owns it and you're buying a license to use it. Again with the cliche, try not paying taxes or using your house that is not allowed by your state and see what happens.

      Same with the car. The government owns your car. All you have is a title to use it in a manner that is as defined by the state.

      It's all an illusion of ownership. All that is different is that the license are a little more permissive than others.

  • This is a copy-paste that I wrote for somewhere else, do as you will with it.

    I have observed something, and it has increased with time, having recently brought it up to my father-in-law, who is also a tech field worker, he agreed with me.
    The people - both voluntarily and at some prodding are giving up control and ownership of everything - slowly.

    What brought it to my attention is streaming services. Despite being a quite technical individual I skipped out on the early part of the streaming fad, due in part

    • by m00sh ( 2538182 )

      This is a copy-paste that I wrote for somewhere else, do as you will with it.

      I have observed something, and it has increased with time, having recently brought it up to my father-in-law, who is also a tech field worker, he agreed with me. The people - both voluntarily and at some prodding are giving up control and ownership of everything - slowly.

      What brought it to my attention is streaming services. Despite being a quite technical individual I skipped out on the early part of the streaming fad, due in part to living in an area with unreliable web access and literally working in a faraday cage without WiFi access during that time period. I doubled down on the previous fad - ripping and compressing, instead and continue that to this day.

      The result - people are lost without access to Spotify. No Netflix, no movies. You unplug the average person from the Internet these days and they no longer have the ability to use their entertainment systems.

      I originally contemplated the pros and cons of going all online versus what I was doing [slashdot.org] - are we really missing anything by not owning our media? In time I began to realize it didn't stop at media.

      Younger people don't want to own anything.

      We are watching the formation of dependence culture.

      Young people aren't driving anymore, [nypost.com] which like everything else is a mix of good and bad. Even when I was privileged enough to be able to bike to work and back, and even for my grocery shopping and most everything else I still kept a license and a vehicle. Something I've noted at work - the younger a coworker is the less likely they are to have any damned tools to work with, and it doesn't appear to be tied to not having had enough time to accumulate them. While doing a little research about that tidbit I stumbled across an article [brightside.me] about the non-ownership topic from the other perspective written in a way that meets my approval.

      It's important after that last article I make myself clear. I am not condemning the passing of materialism culture. Far from it. I personally have reduced my materialism and even the footprint of what I personally own. I am however against submission and dependence culture - both of which are adopted when you give up your ability to do for yourself by depending on services - AKA being served - exclusively.

      I want to go back to tools. Even though I've reduced the amount of junk I personally own, something I do own a healthy share of is tools. Tools are to me, a different kind of possession. They aren't possessions that say "Look at me!", they aren't something that I use as a status symbol, they aren't pointless possessions. No - tools are something that says "I've got this." I use my tools to make a living, to do for myself, to teach. My tools give me independence and if used properly can even be used to spread independence.

      I think we're heading down a dangerous path. When most of the people rent someone still has to own what was rented. When people do nothing but stream someone still has control of the source material. When you don't have your own tools you have to depend on someone to provide them for you. When you can't control your own propulsion you can only go where others will take you. In situations where the many are dependent on the few, the few tend to get fewer in time as they are bought out or consolidated after deaths, etc... In turn the fewer the sources of provision are, the more power the providers have. Eventually we all become slaves existing at the leisure of those who control the resources.

      I just realized after typing that last line that it sounds like some sort of socialist manifesto - at least when that line stands alone. Quite the opposite - was intended. We have no need of "seizing the means of production" we as individuals already own the means of production - ourselves. We simply need to make sure we don't give it away - and maintain the skill to do so.

      I'm at odds with myself on much of this topic. Having lost nearly everything I owned twice in a five year period changed my perspective on possessions. Not immediately after the second time, but about a year after or so, I asked myself "why am I even concerned about collecting this stuff?" I've determined that it's important to maintain responsibility and ability - hence the tools, bikes and parts, and computer stuff (I am an I.T. guy who loves bikes after all). On the other hand I intentionally gave up most of my printed books, moving instead to electronic. Not tethered electronic usually, but actual DRM-free electronic purchases so I can maintain control without clutter. I wasn't a fan of kitchen gadgets to begin with, and I simplified further. I have a cast-iron skillet and some stainless steel pots - I believe in life-long quality. I do not want a lot of plastic junk in my kitchen. If I get a choice between an electric something or a manual something I typically go for manual. I went back to electric for the coffee grinder, I didn't have THAT much time to give, but I keep the manual around for hurricane season. I do have my movies and music, but I've pulled them out of their original packaging and put them in binders, keeping copies on my server. By maintaining the originals I maintain control, and the binders at least reduce clutter.

      I sometimes suspect that we are being maneuvered into reducing our independence by means of market adjustment and less than organic trend and media manipulation. The dependence culture scares me, I'm going to be as self-managing as possible to set an example for my kids.

      I find having a huge amount of possessions actually robs you of your independence.

      Stuff takes space. Space is expensive. You either have to live more expensively or with a worse quality of life surrounded by your stuff.

      Stuff for storing stuff is expensive and bulky. Cabinets, boxes, shelves all take up space.

      Having stuff that you use every day or weekly makes sense. Having stuff that you use once a year or five or in case of this or that doesn't really make sense.

      Maybe after you've settled down, bou

  • You guys seem totally unaware that every major streaming service offers offline listening. Maybe the reason you don't like streaming services is because you haven't given them a fair chance.
    • by Nkwe ( 604125 )

      You guys seem totally unaware that every major streaming service offers offline listening. Maybe the reason you don't like streaming services is because you haven't given them a fair chance.

      Not a grandfather, but old enough to be one. I fully understand that I can listen offline. My concern is not about being able to listen offline in the short term, it is about being able to decide that I no longer want to pay the streaming service and yet still listen to the music that I have heard in the past. If I buy a CD (physical media) or an MP3 (non-DRM logical media), I can pay once and listen to it forever and no one else can decide that I can't. That freedom is important to me. If others don't want

  • how much we gnash our teeth or complain - streaming will likely be the dominant music distribution method for the foreseeable future.

    Personally, I hate monthly subscription fees. $5 a month here, $10 a month there, and suddenly you are spending $1,000s a year on services - services that you once considered a splurge (like buying a new CD) are now required for you to maintain access to your entertainment.

    Between jobs, need to cut back on spending? Sorry. You'll have no entertainment this month because yo
  • During the 1990s, the street price for a CD nearly doubled.

    It would have been interesting if they came out with a DVD density, credit-card sized CD, with 24bit/96khz uncompressed sound quality.

  • How about a listener sponsored human curated eclectic internet radio station? [radioparadise.com] So, if I make my own playlist on Spotify I am limited sort of by what I know and already like. Algorithm-driven streams like Pandora also wind up feeding you what you already like in a way. I do subscribe to a paid streaming service and that is great when I know what I want. But I love to turn on Radio Paradise and let the expert DJs choose stuff that is sometimes new to me and often familiar as well. It is eclectic in taste, but

  • I have a number of close friends that are working musicians, indie types. Every one of them counts the recorded music sales these days (whatever format or method) as a promotional expense rather than an income opportunity. Their income is from live performance. Except for perhaps a tiny minority at the top of the charts, recorded music is dead as a moneymaker for working musicians.
  • It may be worth mentioning that even back when record companies first started selling actual vinyl record albums, those sales were never the primary revenue source for the artists themselves; rather, concerts are and always have been their biggest income source by a pretty solid margin. So if you really want to support your favorite artist...

  • I buy more physical media, CD and SACD, than ever. Reasons: there is a huge used market and it's very, very cheap. Even new discs are relatively cheaper than ever. Even SACDs are rippable now (by using certain older networked Blu-Ray/DVD/SACD players, see Computer Audiophile forum for details). I get a lossless audio disc which is simple to back up/duplicate/rip. With classical music I usually get a full booklet which I can scan, and often I can download a full pdf from the vendor/label.

    The only downsid

  • In 2018, album sales fell 18.2 percent from the previous year and song sales fell 28.8 percent, according to U.S. year-end report figures from data company BuzzAngle, which tracks music consumption. Meanwhile, total on-demand music streams, including both audio and video, shot up 35.4 percent. Audio on-demand streams set a new record high in 2018 of 534.6 billion streams, which is up 42 percent from 2017's 376.9 billion streams.

    Four significant digits? Clearly the surveillance state is further along—a

  • For me, an "album" is a whole experience. The music (all of it), the artwork, the notes, pictures, etc.

    With that said, while I do keep all of that, I usually ditch the case (unless it's special too). Keeping the paper art work and then I rip to my media server and I do use that the most for listening.

    There's a ton of stuff that is NOT on streaming btw.

    I think what is missing in all of this is the number of folks that are "stealing", that is, downloading content without securing any rights at all o
  • by jason777 ( 557591 ) on Friday January 04, 2019 @12:51PM (#57905220)
    I will never stream anything. I have enough music now to last the rest of my life. New stuff sucks anyways. As far as movies, I prefer high quality, hdr, 4k content on a high end home theater and sound system. I will never purchase a streamed pos low quality viewing. When they finally take away discs, I'm out. My plex server currently serves me around 32TB of movies. I'll just re-watch those till I die. Or, see what the pirates have in store for me for download.
    • by jwhyche ( 6192 )

      Bullshit. I have a huge plex system but its not close to 32 TB. How many movies/series do you have, what codec do you have them encoded in? Bit rates and resolutions and how long have you been collecting?

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