You Mean People Still Buy Music, Seriously?

Feb 8 by James Mowery | 3 comments

A man much more brilliant than I once said that you must adapt or die to succeed in business. Warner Music Group’s (WMG) sales have dropped 14 percent while digital sales fell 5 percent in the past three months alone. Clearly, WMG is going for suicide.

It’s not a shocking announcement. The big labels are struggling to find their mojo. They will blame piracy, of course, but the truth is that artists are beginning to see the light. They are beginning to understand that they can do it without the labels and that social media and the Internet is the way to fame and fortune. Perhaps Amazon will do to the music industry as to what it is currently doing to the publishing industry, and maybe Apple will follow along.

But seriously, who buys music anymore? I have been a subscriber to Rdio and, before that, Pandora Radio for a long time now (not to mention Grooveshark) and have no desire to own music any longer. I know there are those who will disagree with me, but for the average consumer who simply wants to listen to music and is willing to spend a few bucks a month, this is a great time.

WRITTEN BY JAMES MOWERY

James Mowery is a passionate technology journalist and entrepreneur who has written for various top-tier publications like Mashable and CMSWire. Follow him on Twitter: @JMowery.

COMMENTS
  • http://www.reverbnation.com/inverso Bradley

    For independent artists like myself, it almost feels like a popularity contest instead of a business. I have focused all my attention on interacting with new fans, and none of my time advertising my albums. My feeling is that people are only going to listen to an album when they see that everyone else is doing it as well. As for them actually buying it?? I agree, no one’s buying albums anymore. My best hope for music as a business, is to get my music popular and hope that people hear it on the online subscription radio stations like Pandora.

  • Adel

    I’m no genius by far, but in terms of people downloading music from file-sharing websites; I rekindled with lost memories of going and hanging out at friends’ rooms and checking out their cassette collections and eventually they would copy one for me and vice versa. Then came the mix-tape revolution. So was that act considered piracy in the first place?. We made no profit gains out of each other other than to spread the love of music. But when my favorite band came out with a new album, I’m sure to rush to the record store with intense anticipation of what could be in store!. I also think the physical aspect of buying a record back in the 80s-90s, the CD booklet and all the good stuff, it adds up to the whole experience. That’s why new generations today, some of them lack the perception we had back then and how sentimentally attached we can get with music.

  • Hambone9119

    Im 23 i want good sound quality i want music when i want, I buy cd or cassette tape for my car Vinyl for my home, It sounds so much better then a tinny ipod, I convert my music into Mp3, i downloads lots of stuff indy, stuff which i cant find any where, a. Nothing wrong with loving records and music and downloading at the same time. But play adownload thru your system then pop, on a cd there is a noticeable drop in sound quality, and that irritates the shit out of me.