Jun 8, 2012
11 depressing facts about pop music album sales and chart toppers
Some facepalm-inducing comparisons from music history…
(via Eat Liver)
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Jun 8, 2012
Some facepalm-inducing comparisons from music history…
(via Eat Liver)
* * * * *
Makes me want to throw up.
There are more people on the earth now then there was 50 years ago. Simple math. The audience for pop music (which whether you like it or not all of this is) has grown… a lot. It’s not hard to understand.
Not to mention it being more affordable and convenient to buy any music you want now with iTunes and such.
Listen, no one will know who “Flo Rida” is in 40 years. Young people STILL like The Beetles. Think before you create this garbage.
i was okay with this until i saw barbara streisand.
Then you have no musical soul.
^What he said.
I see tons of Barbara Streisand lps at flee markets, antique stores. every so often i will find beatles, pinkfloyd or zeppelin. My uncle said she was like Brittany Spears or similar in the day.
I’m disgusted.
Who is Rihanna?
Most people buying today’s crap don’t have a clue of what good music is.
There are few things you have to consider before thrown up over this:
1. the newer artists listed have had more wide-spread media exposure (TV, Social Media, etc.)
2. the number of people on earth during the classic artists era vs. now.
3. There is 30 different ways you can download songs nowadays (iTunes, CDs, torrents, amazon, etc.etc.)
4. a lot of people don’t know what good music is, so they settle for shit like Rhianna.
You nailed it, Samee. I was going to express my opinion but there is no need.
I will add this: Artists like Weather Report, Return To Forever, Jimi, Yes, Gentle Giant, Passport (and many others already listed here) were supremely talented musicians who did what their heart and mind said do and without concern for “Top Ten” and other lists. The result has produced some of the most beautiful, amazing and inspiring music ever heard. For that I am eternally thankful. I pity those that missed these musicians. They have no idea.
I blame the internet.
this is because there was no itunes and all these digital availability for music for the older groups. If there was itunes and such during the beatles’ era then things would be a lot different in terms of high sales and such.
I agree with Monica. “Singles” and “record sales” now include digital downloads which have made music MUCH more accessible to “the common man” than previously. It’s much easier for a person to spend .99 for *one* song to download than it was to come up with $15 to buy a vinyl album. And don’t forget that The Beatles catalog wasn’t available on iTunes until two (three?) years ago.
You didn’t have to buy a whole vinyl album because they sold 45s which contained the single on the A-side, and a song that might or might not have made it onto the full LP on the B-side. These usually cost $1 or less.
So…a dollar in 1960 or 1970 would get you a single and a bonus song instead of just the one song that your dollar will get you today.
Yes, but a 1960′s dollar would equal $7.46 today. Inflation sucks. And it also means that spending one dollar on two songs was still spending a LOT more than we do now.
“Pop” music is a flash in the pan. The stuff that will still be playing on the radio 20+ years from now probably won’t make the charts today. Plus, Jimi, Led Zep, Beatles et. al. never had MTV or corporate radio playlists to back them up. Remember Pet Rocks & disco? They were popular once too.
This is like the old Mark twain saying: “Lies, damn lies, and statistics”…apples and orange comparisons.
simple people enjoy simple things, if only they had more taste…
I think a list like this would need more math. The population has grown significantly since Elvis. I’m not willing to to that math, but I bet the real numbers would be less depressing.
Amen Becky, and all the replies. This is a new dark age for pop and country music. Personally, i think we have been utterly starved for melody, songs you can whistle or humm. The age of stupidity and the death of melody! Thats why i mostly listen to classical, non.
Me too. Isn’t it interesting how a century or more later and those classical songs are still being played. That won’t be the case for the crap that comes out today (praise God!).
classic, not classical. Classical is a beautiful genre, all it’s own.
whats wrong with billy ray cyrus? and isn’t his daughter hannah montana? she also makes GREAT music, heck, she’s got the best of both worlds. ; )
There are more people now-and they have horrible taste in music. Most people don’t buy albums, they should go by illegally downloaded songs.
We can’t look at the pop charts for what’s number one RIGHT NOW to be the arbiter of good taste. The best music survives. A lot of these comparisons are with older groups, who not only didn’t have the means of distribution that we now have, but also who weren’t always number one in their own day.
On a side note, no matter how absurd a person Barbra Streisand is, she has a PHENOMENAL voice and an amazing amount of talent.
You also have to consider how much larger the population is, and how the methods or distribution, marketing, and sales have changed as well. The only real comparison is Barbara Streisand. She has been around for decades, and her sales have spanned these time periods and changes in technology. You also have to examine society, education, and what is trending.
As people we spend quite a bit of time trying to assimilate. So, if that girl at school we want to be friends with seriously likes Clint Black, we will stomach it to get close.
So, given the lack of technology, there being only 3-4 television stations, the primary sales point being radio, social hubs like schools, dance clubs, and record stores, the Beatles did damn good compared to Flo-Rida. They had more word of mouth and radio play in their time than Flo-Rida, who relies on internet and video mediums to advertise more than radio, for example.
It’s impulsive itunes buy Vs. literally selling that album in person and on the radio.
the population in 1977 was 4.2 billion, 2011 7 billion. evaluate the sales as a percentage of population and it’s not that strong. Mr Hu’s concern what the young Chinese like that he doesn’t.
I’m honestly not that disgusted, because even though the pop stars of today have sold more than these classic artists, at least the classics are still relevant enough for comparison. How many of these pop bands/artists will stand the test of time? Will anyone remember or care about Ke$ha or Katy Perry in 30,40,50 years? I actually know for a fact that kids about a generation under me (10 or 11) are getting turned on to Pink Floyd, which makes me smile~ the awesome music of my parents generation will live on for at least another 50 years! It’s all about the staying power of GOOD music!
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“1. Creed has sold more records in the us than Jimi Hendrix”
jimi Hendrix = overrated. tremonti sheds the shit outta Hendrixs face.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjvMBq1O8xA&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nf9EYjbVVCQ
come on
Sometimes the web brings up some realy scary facts..
It’s easy to outsell the Beatles or Elvis nowadays seeing as the population of the world has increased since their stats where taken. Rihanna has 10 top songs because there is this thing called the internet. Music is more readily available, easier to purchase, and even easier to listen to on a whim.
In 20 years as populations grow and things change and make the world even more interconnected all of the above artists will also be blown out of the water.
I don’t want to live on this planet anymore.
gotta give it up for Shania Twain…i mean really, look at her. THAT’S talent…
Sad state of affairs for the music industry if all of these things are true…
This is stupid and over-simplified. You need to look at a number of factors, but the most important of all is how many albums they sold compared to the amount of people in the US at the time. Population of the US in 1960 = 179 million. Today = 314 million.
Hey, just because somebody else listens to music you don’t like you can still enjoy all the Hendrix and Led Zep and Beatles you want, can’t you?
There are more people on the earth now then there was 50 years ago. Simple math. The audience for pop music (which whether you like it or not all of this is) has grown… a lot. It’s not hard to understand.
this is depressing, what is the world comming too? But i guess it all makes sense to where the technology is now. The internet is crazy.