Next Big Sound (a/o May 16th):
The case for streaming cannibalization just got a lot more difficult. According to US-based stats just shared by Nielsen, one billion songs have already been downloaded - and paid for - in 2012. That was once a smashing record for an entire year (ie, 2008), much less the span of 9 months. This also looks like the earliest point at which the billion-mark has been reached in the US.
That is also a fairly strong increase over last year. In 2011, just over 1.3 billion downloads were counted, according to Nielsen. Which means that current-year tallies are likely to beat last year's finish, possibly by a healthy margin (let's see). At this exact pace, current-year downloads would hit 1.33 billion, a calculation that assumes completely steady downloading rates through the holidays.
The question now is how strong the 2012 issues will be, and how long it lasts. So far, at least through 2011 and at least in the US, the evidence strongly suggests cannibalization isn't happening.
The album sales picture also seems interesting. According to Nielsen, album downloads are already up 15 percent year-over-year. In 2011, album downloads hit the 100 million mark, and those are counted separately (with 10+ tracks per album).
Unfortunately, we don't have a broader, global dataset to complement these US-based statistics. The knee-jerk assessment might be that downloads are growing everywhere, but that would ignore a far greater level of streaming adoption across Europe. Which could mean that cannibalization is indeed happening across the Atlantic, and a mere preview of trends to come in the US.
Visitor Wednesday, October 03, 2012
So, how much did CD's drop?
FarePlay Thursday, October 04, 2012
This is positive news, but unlike Rolling Stone peeing all over itself with praise for the power of Spotify, see comments below, I don't buy it. I agree with some of the comments below; even if streaming does help drive sales, services like Spotify are way off base with their compensation.
The repeated mention of Spotify as contributing to the initial sales success of Mumford & Sons reads like "product placement". Amazing how unintentionally transparent Rolling Stone can be in their dealings and partnership with an online music service that has created so much negative press in regard to the way they minimally compensate artists combined with questionable equity deals with the major labels who negotiated those deals.
Interesting that RS mentions Lady GaGa and Mondonna to make their case for Spotify, but failed to mention the real heavy hitter, Adele; who smashed CD sales without any Spotify "airplay" for 6 months.
Bottom line. Mumford & Son is a cult sensation, at the moment, almost on par with Dave Matthews and are not a "radio hit".
HansH Wednesday, October 03, 2012
To make it even more difficult:
Mumford & Sons' 'Babel' Scores Biggest Debut of 2012, Tops Billboard 200 Chart
Read more at http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/industry/digital-and-mobile/business-matters-mumford-sons-babel-smashes-1007965972.story#rUAf30gPzqiAO7HV.99
Combine that with:
Mumford & Sons' 'Babel' Smashes Spotify Streaming Record
Visitor Wednesday, October 03, 2012
That doesn't change a thing.
I would begin to consider Spotify if they paid 25-30 times more.
HansH Wednesday, October 03, 2012
They can pay 25-30 times more if you can get people to pay $250-$300 a month for access? Deal?
Visitor Wednesday, October 03, 2012
Frankly, I don't give a damn how they make money.
They can sell t-shirts, can't they?
Visitor Wednesday, October 03, 2012
I think I will start selling T-shirts with "Pay or go away" Looks like there is a market for that.
Visitor Wednesday, October 03, 2012
Great idea!
For musicians and other whores. :)
Visitor 2 Wednesday, October 03, 2012
and so can you...
JC Wednesday, October 03, 2012
It's okay to criticize Spotify for paying less than other streaming services. There is no good reason they shouldn't be able to payout at the same rate as their competitors in the space.
But isn't it time to stop villifying one company (Spotify) and instead focus on streaming as a whole? The issues are around streaming as a model. Let's focus our brains on that.
Visitor Wednesday, October 03, 2012
Name one Freeemium service that pays better rates.
Visitor Wednesday, October 03, 2012
Agree, let's send the same message to all of them:
Pay or go away!
Artist Thursday, October 04, 2012
Spotify has to pay at least 300x more to win me over.. until then they can go to hell.
Accardo Wednesday, October 03, 2012
what about the fact that so many artists are windowing their releases from streaming services during the most crucial days and weeks for download sales??
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