A study published earlier today by Nielsen Soundscan revealed a pretty remarkable new statistic: for the first time in the organization's 21 year history of analyzing music sales and figures, "catalog" albums (i.e. old music) are outselling new music titles… by a surprising margin. According to the report, 76.6 million catalog albums have been sold or downloaded in the first quarter of 2012 versus the 73.9 million in new release sales. Now, I know what you're thinking, and no, it's not entirely Katy Perry and Rihanna's fault.
For your consideration, here are a few likely contributing factors behind the recent surge of older music sales:
New music is… well, um… you know…
…Bad? Apart from your Adeles and your Frank Oceans, there just simply hasn't been very much five-star-review-worthy new music this past year. I know, I know, "Get off it, Grandpa," but we all know it's true. Take a look back at what was selling 10, 15 or 20 years ago… hell, look at what was big 5 years back… and see if doesn't completely depress you. Music fans are doing just that and, hey, guess what they're finding? Better music.
Older music is cheaper... and there's a lot more of it...
Why pay $14.99 (or more) for a "hot" new release (featuring maybe one or two songs you've heard and kind of like) when iTunes, Amazon and others are selling thousands of your favorite classics on CD or digitally for $7.99 or less? Sometimes it just boils down to simple economics. If you've only got x amount of dollars to spend on music, wouldn't you rather go with something you know you're going to love versus something you're just now getting into… and can hear a million other places?
Our favorite musicians just keep... you know... dying...
What's the first thing everyone does when a Whitney Houston or an Adam Yauch passes away? Buy (or re-buy) a ton of their old music. It's a sad but eternally true fact of life that the easily way to boost older album sales is to shuffle off this mortal coil and 2012 has been a regrettably busy year in iconic musician deaths thus far.
You just dropped $75 on a super deluxe edition reissue of Exile On Main Street...
Noticed a sudden surge in box sets, anniversary editions, deluxe vinyl gifts sets and other fancy (and expensive) re-packagings of your favorite classic albums? That's the music industry attempting to save face by playing into our collective nostalgia for older music. Sure, you already have Ziggy Stardust on CD and on your iPod, but this new version comes with a DVD and a booklet and postcards and buttons and patches and your very own David Bowie makeup. Meanwhile, the new Nicki Minaj album comes in a flimsy cardboard digipack that tears and falls apart before you've even pulled out the already-scratched CD.
Your kid cousin finally knows who Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin are...
We all know how much it sucks to be twentysomething. We never got to see Michael Jackson in concert, we weren't doing anything when John Lennon died and we only know what Massive Attack's No Protection is because it's in High Fidelity. Younger music fans have a lot of cultural catching up to do and with the iTunes Store and Spotify at our ever-constant fingertips, it's never been easier to discover John Coltrane or Howlin' Wolf or Pete Seeger or Gang Of Four… much to the eye-roll chagrin of our parents and thirtysomething friends.
Your parents just figured out what an mp3 is...
With music retailers and even compact discs quickly going the way of the dinosaur, it's become more and more essential to know your way around digital music services. And guess what? Your mom and dad and aunts and uncles and grandparents and high school teachers and bosses and older co-workers are finally starting to get the hang of this stuff! File sharing forever changed how, where and to whom music gets sold, but these old timers still think it's important to pay for music. And guess what they're buying? Old music. Hey, somebody's got to bring John Denver and Anne Murray into the 21st century, right?
What do you guys think of Nielsen Soundscan's new old/new music sales statistics? Get the conversation started in our comments section below.
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