Once More.... With Feeling

A couple of weeks ago I read a blog post that stated the old music is outselling new music. Last month Soundscan reported that in the first half of 2012, 76.6 million catatog albums were sold as compared to 73.9 million current albums. While this may not seem like a revelation, it may be a sign that the trend toward digital downloads is beginning to take a hold, or not.....

In the 1980s, after the release of the CD as a music delivery system, music buyers rushed out to buy there favorite albums from the past, trying to get the all time great hits in the pristine listening state that was offered by the compact disc. Back catalog surged to the top of the charts then as well. Today however, since not everyone is wired just yet, it may not be as easy to leap to the conclusion that downloads have done the same thing as the CD.

There are many factors at play when it comes to digital music sales. Everything from the "culture of free" to streaming and yes, pirating can be considered a cause for the slow pace of music sales in the digital era. I have another idea about why there has been a continued down turn in overall music sales since the late 1990s, but I'm going to save that for another blog post. Mean while, and this is just my opinion, music sales are up, but not where they once were, because the major labels have a continued fascination with image as the best and surest way to sell more music. Thus, you see the absence of a blockbuster hit here in the first half of 2012.

I'm sure that anyone who is constantly on the lookout for new music, especially on the web, can tell you that they have found a great number of bands or artists who blow away anyone that the majors are offering right now. But, with back catalog doing well once more, and the number of major record companies about to dwindle from four to three, it's really a win win situation for the last three standing, for they will control the rights to all of major releases both old and new.

I'd have to say though, that for the longest time I didn't think that I would ever be someone who would going rummaging through my collection to find something that I hadn't heard in years. That is, until Rap took over for R&B. At the time there essentially was no true R&B, so I didn't really have much choice, if that's what I wanted to hear. While some may disagree with my assertion, I don't believe that anyone can argue that Rap has become the uptempo counterpart to today's slower ballad driven Hip Hop infused R&B.

So it is, that I was not surprised to hear that back catalog is outselling new music. Also, as the major record companies keep pumping out the latest image driven, melody deprived nonsense that continues to pour over the airwaves, more and more music fans will continue to go looking for the genuine article. Even if they have to go looking for it within the music of the past.