![\"Cake\"](\"https:\/\/webspace.utexas.edu\/cknutson\/www\/images\/cake_fn.jpg\" "\\"Cake\\"")
Have we hit bottom yet? Wayne makes a great point, don’t blame the low sales of the new Cake album on piracy… who is downloading the album anyway?<\/p>\nHave we hit bottom yet? Wayne makes a great point, don’t blame the low sales of the new Cake album on piracy… who is downloading the album anyway?<\/p>\n
Today marks a new nadir in the music industry, but not for long. The new album from Cake, Showroom of Compassion, entered the Billboard 200 chart at number one, the band\u2019s first top ten album since 1998 and its first ever number one. Great news, right? Well, it\u2019s a rather dubious honor since it is also the lowest selling album to ever enter the chart at the top spot. Showroom racked up a pathetic 44,000 units sold, the lowest amount for any number one album since SoundScan began tracking sales 20 years ago. And this can\u2019t be blamed on piracy because who the hell is downloading a Cake album anyway?<\/p>\n
Overall album sales were down 15% compared to the same week last year and down 11% year to date from last year at the same time. Now let\u2019s be clear, there\u2019s no new superstar product to help drive sales, but even the big sellers like Kanye and Taylor Swift are tapering off significantly. Could it be the time of year? No matter which time of the year you pick, the sales numbers are consistently down from the previous year, and every one of the last 10!<\/p>\n
It\u2019s in this scenario that we\u2019re about to get fourth quarter earnings from some of the major labels. Most notably Universal. And rumors are that the numbers are not going to be pretty. According to a report by Johnnie L. Roberts in The Wrap yesterday, new UMG CEO Lucien Grainge has begun his long rumored massive restructuring of the company. The fat will definitely be cut very close to the bone and some top execs got their pink slips yesterday. How long this downsizing process will take is anybody\u2019s guess.<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s face it; sales are not going to get better. You can expect them to steadily decline until it bottoms out or somebody comes to the realization that the recording business can\u2019t rely on the album sales model any longer. Ironically, technology has forced the industry back to the 50\u2032s. It\u2019s once again a singles business. The record business was its most vibrant when Elvis hit the scene. There were tons of small regional independent labels that laid the foundation for what would evolve into the modern music industry that we know today. In those days, we all saved up our nickels, dimes and quarters to rush out and buy the latest Elvis, Sam Cooke or Little Richard 45\u2032s for $.69 (and later $.99). Everyone used to rush home after school to watch American Bandstand. Albums were basically thrown together quickly and rushed to market in an attempt to capitalize on a break through single But it was the singles charts that counted and that\u2019s where the big sales were.<\/p>\n
Then the Beatles came along and, inspired by those early music legends, changed things in a big way. The public was so hungry for as much Beatle music as they could get their hands on that suddenly album sales took on a new meaning. By the time Sergeant Pepper was released not only had the album format become the new business model but it also became an art form unto itself. The 60\u2032s gave birth to an explosion of creativity in pop music that hasn\u2019t been seen since. From then on the industry concentrated on album sales, eventually eliminated the single format altogether. The business entered an era of contraction, with the small indie labels being gobbled up by the majors, and unprecedented growth. Sales (especially when advances in technology brought the compact disc) continued to swell until 2000. Then the internet, and Napster, came along.<\/p>\n
A decade later record labels are back to selling $.99 singles again and they still haven\u2019t figured out what to do about it. It\u2019s like a bunch of blind guys in a room trying to find the light switch. Even if they did find it hey still wouldn\u2019t be able to see anything.<\/p>\n
This is not going to sound like me at all, but I\u2019m actually pulling for Grainge to succeed. These days the only way to survive is by slashing costs because the revenues sure aren\u2019t going to increase anytime in the foreseeable future. Doug Morris so overspent for so many years that Lucien is now the guy with a broom at the end of the parade.<\/p>\n
Universal is getting ready for the day that an album will enter the charts at number one with 10,000 copies sold . That day seems to be approaching sooner than later.<\/p>\n