CD Sales are down? Maybe it's the lack of new releases

I remember when the Christmas CD release season used to be the mother lode of exciting releases. We'd get stacks of release sheets. It was impossible to keep up with all the artists releasing new CDs in the months of November and December. CDs by major artists would be specifically targeted for release during these months. You knew if a title made it onto the schedule during that time period, it had to be a pretty good record. And if the title was bumped to the release wasteland that was January -- you knew the label was quietly dumping the album where no one would see it. If a major artist had an album scheduled for January release, you knew it was bound to be a major stinker.

There were also the greatest hits collections, some from current acts, some from acts that had not had a comprehensive set until that point. There would also usually be 4 or 5 major box sets, filled with a ridiculous amount of goodies.

Every Tuesday leading up to Christmas would get increasingly crazy and manic, with bigger and better from bigger and better acts, except for the Tuesday right before Christmas -- that would usually be quiet because even the labels knew major releases would get lost in the insanity of Christmas shopping (though I do seem to recall a Garth Brooks CD released on Dec 23).

This year was a lot different.

Here's a brief list of what CDs came out this year from the beginning of November:

Nov 6:

• Chris Brown, Jimmy Buffet (live), Cassidy, Five For Fighting (live), Jay-Z, Monster Magnet, Ricky Martin (live), Sigur Ros

Nov 13:

• Boyz II Men, Dane Cook (live), Celine Dion, Duran Duran, Aretha Franklin (duets), The Hives, Alicia Keys, Queenscryche (covers album), Seal, Shaggy, James Taylor (live), Trisha Yearwood

Nov 20:

• Sebastian Bach, Melissa Etheridge (live), Craig David, Genesis (live), Jordin Sparks (American Idol winner)

Nov 27:

• Chuck D featuring Kyle Jason and The Banned, Jesse Dayton and Brennen Leigh, Rob Jungklas, Pitball, The Rumble Strips (EP), Renee Zawawi (I don't recognize most of these acts, but this is the entire list of US releases I can find for this week. Someone, please tell me I missed something).

Dec 4:

• Daft Punk (live), Nelly Furtado (live), Ghostface Killah, Wyclef Jean, Scarface, T-Pain, Rufus Wainwright (live)
  

Dec 11:

• Chris Barber (live), Birdman, Bow Wow and Omarion, Hi-Tek, Mario, Dave Matthews Band (live), Beanie Sigel, Wu-Tang Clan

Dec 18:

• Mary J. Blige, Chingy, Jaheim

Obviously, next Tuesday is Christmas, so this is the last week of pre-Christmas releases. Tell me, how many of those titles were you rushing out to buy? There were certainly one or two major releases in there (Alicia Keys being the most notable), but nothing like the release schedules of the past.

And is it just me or are there way too many live albums padding the release schedule?

I'm not including hits collections or the "box sets" that were mostly just entire catalogs re-packaged and fancied up for a premium price (Radiohead, Pink Floyd -- thanks EMI!).

So when all the execs start talking about "disappointing" Christmas CD sales and the labels and retailers point at the godless consumer for downloading, think about this release schedule. What exactly was out there to buy?

Universal continues to miss the big picture

Universal is requiring all its artists to replace full-length songs on MySpace with 90-second snippets.

More from Wired.Com - Universal Barring Artists from Posting Full Songs on MySpace.

I'm wondering why everyone is surprised, particularly after Universal CEO Doug Morris talked to Wired.com last week. He made it quite clear the music-lovin' public is nuthin' but a bunch of thieving scum-bags while the labels are fighting to uphold the moral right.

I'm surprised they're not lobbying to remove computers from schools -- prevent kids from even learning how to use dat dar interweb and the music industry's problems are solved -- as long as they keep downloading ringtones. Anything to keep the current distrubtion model intact. Hey, if people are pissed off by the label's tactics, then they weren't real music fans in the first place, right?

Jesus.

The "New" Music Distro

I'm having a lot of trouble with the new distribution model everyone keeps touting. I never hear a lot of explanation of depth as to what this model involves. I just keep hearing "internet distribution".

As far as I can see, that means I can listen to a Podcast, "illegally" download a track or CD, go to MySpace and listen to samples, and do practically everything but actually purchase the music and store it on my computer or player. I can use a recorder or something and cheat some enterprising musician out of compensation for hard work, but that doesn't sound like much of a model to me.

Sometimes the band will offer a CD for sale -- at their shows or local indie store. CDBaby has a few indie CDs, but far from all. iTunes is sometimes an option, if you don't want liner notes.

I'm not slamming the model -- it's good. I hear more music from more varied bands than ever before. I just feel like I'm missing something. If the internet is supposed to help a band reach a global audience, how come I can only buy something if I live in their immediate area?

Am I the only one feeling this way?

The Big Four in music

Every time I hear the phrase "Big Four" when referring to the major labels, a little part of me cries.

How the hell did we get down to just four?

My music retail career began in 1993 -- maybe the last great time to be involved in the music retail side of the industry. We contended with 8 majors (Warner, Sony, Universal, BMG, EMI, PolyGram, PolyTel, and Quality). Yes, we considered PolyTel and Quality majors -- it was Canada and they were moving an insane amount of CDs at the time ("Dance Mix '93" ring any bells?), and a number of "minors" or indie labels. Or distribution groups made up of indie labels that wanted to supply to Canada without dealing with distribution themselves. Cargo Records (Sub-Pop went through these guys), Denon (they had Rykodisc), and so on.

Eventually the majors started to fall. First, by all rights, was Quality and PolyTel (Quality went bankrupt, and PolyTel merged with its parent company PolyGram). Six majors seemed about right. Then PolyGram fell. Our particular chain was on the outs with them over imports anyway, so it didn't change much. But something did change.

From that point on, there were always threats of more mergers, less majors. Warner and EMI seemed to constantly be in talks. Universal had picked up PolyGram's catalog and promptly cut their new massive catalog by 1/3, leaving us with much less depth in the catalogs in general. The other labels followed that lead, though much more discreetly. The logic was these catalog CDs could easily be imported from the US -- there was no reason to have a domestic supplier in Canada.

But imports are the bottom of the pecking order for any label. We were lucky to get a shipment a month, and consumers just weren't that patient. Often it would take 3 months or more for something that used to be readily available.

I read a little while back that the labels were upset consumers were importing CDs from other regions when they weren't available domestically. They were threatening to cut off stores who did this. But isn't this exactly what they've been telling consumers to do for years? You can't have it both ways. And don't even get me started on the poor beleaguered "CD sales are down" labels telling people not to stock or buy records until they say it's ok.

The indies, they went a different way. They'd go out of business for many of the same reasons -- stock was difficult to get a hold of on a consistent basis. Denon and Cargo made way for Oasis which made way for Sonic Unyon and Outside Music and Fusion.. well Fusion has always been around. I swear they survive because they stick to bringing in world/jazz/blues obscurities that people expect to wait 6 months for.

But I can't help but think the very model the labels stuck to was part of their downfall. Maybe they needed to merge to save their skin, but I think they only managed to hasten the demise of the model they're fighting to save.

So, what exactly am I trying to say here?

I'm not really sure myself. What I know is:

• I am a music fan.
• I try to buy at least 2-3 CDs a week, not counting iTunes purchases. My husband often tries to buy more.
  
• These CDs range from new releases on major labels by modern acts to remastered catalogs to lesser-known or independent acts.
  
• Over the past few years, both my husband and I have had an increasingly difficult time locating the CDs we want to buy.
• Over that same period, we've heard the horror stories about declining CD sales, and the industry's reasons behind that decline (downloading, file sharing, digital music, etc).
  

I'm having trouble correlating the facts being given by the RIAA (among others) that the music industry is in decline because people are downloading music, when week after week, I go out to legitimately purchase a number of CDs and I am unable to find them in record stores.

Here I am, trying, and failing, to give my money to the artists, labels, producers, and retailers who work so hard to provide me with the music I love. I'm in the same stores week after week, walking out empty handed and disappointed.

Yet, from what I hear, *I* am the problem?

Am I the problem because I don't want to select from the 4-5 limited titles the label and retailers have agreed to rack that week? The selection usually includes the latest teen/TV sensation's attempt at singing, a high-profile rap act or two that is more known for his or her bling/posse/rap sheet than for any insight into urban conditions, the latest Nickelback soundalike, and a hits disc from a band that is either doing the oldies circuit or is all of 3 years old and had a couple of singles so similar even most fans can't tell them apart.

The good stuff, the sexy stuff, the stuff you want to sit back and listen to and be blown away by and remember why you got so into music -- that's the stuff I can't find. Anywhere. Not on the New Release wall, not filed under the artist's name, and certainly not when I'm (un)lucky enough to ask someone who works there.

Or am I the problem because when I do suddenly find the CD 6 months after release date, I refuse to pay the $25+ the retailer wants for it, because now it is a catalog item?

In the long run, retailers only suffer. By falling into the pattern of promoting only the temporary, hit-of-the-moment thing, they lose an opportunity to develop a loyal music fan and returning customer. Most of these stores certainly aren't making any money charging below-cost prices for the latest Beyonce disc, even as loss-leaders (there's no catalog available to entice people to buy more).

I understand stock in a record store is a balance -- believe me I understand it. I also understand the labels aren't willing to (and likely, thanks to cutbacks, are in no position to) promote the more obscure or less-popular titles, and therefore the retailer is in a tough position. But somehow I don't think any rational person is going to believe suing computer users is going to fix that problem.

Let me set something straight: I'm not endorsing downloading. That's a whole other topic I'll get to in another post.

After too many months of giving most retailers yet another chance, and getting increasingly frustrated, I wanted a way to let the labels know why I wasn't buying. Or why I'd given up buying. Or why I bought from iTunes -- since so many labels seem so opposed to iTunes in general. I wanted to share my frustration. Something that used to be one of the best things in the world to do -- shop and browse in a record store -- is now something I nearly dread.

I'm going to start tracking what I tried to buy. And what I was denied.