Music’s Gaping Contradiction:
In her weekly music commentary, Celia Hirschman offers some sobering statistics for the state of the music industry: This week was the lowest sales-week ever since record keeping began in 1991. According to SoundScan, the number-one album in the country only sold 60,000 copies.
Ms. Hirchman, whom I’ve worked with before and whose opinion I respect a great deal, goes on to say “Clearly, the industry will never return to the past glory days, because the record business will never have that much power again, nor will the leadership ever be the same.” That’s for sure. Music is now less about chart position than fan loyalty, less about format than portibility, less about being a star than earning it. And while the industry flails about arresting DJs and performers, and sqaundering whatever good will they have left, I can help shake my head at the contradiction: While these are dark times for the music industry, it is a golden age for music fans. Thanks to the internet, downloading legal and illegal, and the relative affordability of music festivals at no time in the history of recorded sounds had it been this easy to find music you like faster, deeper, cheaper and easier.
This should be cause for the industry to celebrate. After all, it reveals that the appetite for music is boundless. That they are failing in the midst of such plenty is no one’s fault but their own.