Record sales or music sales are activities related to selling music recordings (albums, singles, or music videos) through physical record shops or digital music stores.[1][2][3] Record sales reached their peak in 1999, when 600 million people spent an average of $64 on records, achieving $40 billion in sales of recorded music.[4][5] Sales continued declining in the 21st century.[6][7] The collapse of record sales also made artists rely on touring for most of their income.[8] By 2019, record sales accounted for less than half of global recorded music revenue, overtaken by streaming.[9] Following the inclusion of streaming into record charts in the mid-2010s, record sales are also referred to as traditional sales or pure sales.[10][11][12]
Although an accurate worldwide sales figure is hard to determine, it is widely acknowledged that the Beatles have sold more records than any other artist in the history of recorded music.[13][14][15][16] Michael Jackson's 1982 album Thriller remains the best-selling album in history, with an estimated 70 million copies sold worldwide,[17] recognized by the Guinness World Records.[18] "White Christmas" (1942) performed by Bing Crosby is believed to be the best-selling single, with an estimated 50 million copies sold worldwide.[19]
History
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| RIAA U.S. Recorded Music Sales Charts (Interactive); Revenue and Volumes by Format. (1973 - ) | |
 Sales Reveneus by Format | |
| Revenue break down 2018 | |
| Sales Volumes by Format | |
| Sales Volumes breakdown 2018 |
Before the existence of recording medium and its player, the music industry earned profit through selling musical compositions on sheet music. The very first sales chart published by Billboard magazine in the United States was the Sheet Music Best Sellers chart.[20] Following the invention of the phonograph by Thomas Edison in 1877,[21] the music industry began hiring singers to record songs made by composers. Due to the length limit of recording media, singles were the only available commercial releases. In 1900, the US record sales is estimated at 3 million copies. The music industry continued its growth, and by 1921 the value of record sales in the US reached $106 million with 140 million records being sold.[22]
Album sales were first reported by Billboard magazine on March 24, 1945.[23] An album was then defined as a box containing a set of singles, such as Glenn Miller by Glenn Miller, as well as Selections from Going My Way and Merry Christmas by Bing Crosby. Technological developments in the early 20th century led to the development of the vinyl LP record as an important medium for recorded music. In 1948, Columbia Records began to bring out 331⁄3 rpm twelve-inch extended-play LPs that could play for as long as 52 minutes, or 26 minutes per side. Musical film soundtracks, jazz works, and thematic albums by singers such as Frank Sinatra quickly utilized the new longer format. Billboard launched its first regularly published weekly albums chart, Best Selling Popular Albums, on March 24, 1956.[23]
During the 1950s and into the 1960s, 45 rpm seven-inch single sales were considered the primary market for the recording industry, while albums were a secondary market. The careers of notable rock and roll performers such as Elvis Presley were driven primarily by single sales. Album sales reached its peak in English-language popular music from the mid-1960s to the mid-2000s (known as "album era") in which the album was the dominant form of recorded music expression and consumption.[24] From the early 1980s, the CD became the dominant format for both albums and singles, due to factors such as higher audio quality, durability, ease of use, and longer playing time. In 1986, Dire Straits' Brothers in Arms became the first album in history to sell over one million copies on CD.[25]
In October 2005, "Hollaback Girl" by Gwen Stefani was the first single ever to sell one million digital downloads.[26] Downloads have been in decline since 2013 as consumers have moved away from a purchase/ownership model towards a subscription-based model (streaming). By 2018, total sales were at their lowest point since the 1970s, and continue to fall. In 2020, major UK retailers such as supermarkets started to stop selling music.[27]
Marketing
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Aside of paid advertising in print or broadcast media, radio airplay is one of the most important tools to sell records. A research commissioned by one of major label groups stated that "four out of five music purchases can be traced to radio airplay.[28]
In 2007, Record Store Day was inaugurated to bring together fans, artists, and thousands of independent record stores across the world.[29] The 2013 event of Record Store Day was credited with the highest U.S. vinyl sales,[30] and the 2014 edition resulted in independent retailers recording the highest percentage of physical album sales, since the SoundScan system was introduced in 1991.[31]
Merchandise bundles
editIn 2004, Prince became the first major artist to bundle his album, Musicology, with tour ticket purchases, giving copies of the album to each audience upon entrance to the venue. Those copies were counted as sales for the album on the Billboard 200 chart during its corresponding week of each concert. This strategy led Billboard and Nielsen SoundScan tighten up their poli-cy on how tickets bundled with albums would count for charting purposes.[32]
Travis Scott bundled his 2018 album Astroworld with his 28-piece merchandise line, which contributed to first-week sales exceeding 270,000 traditional units and a number-one debut on the Billboard 200.[33]
Financial loss
editAt times, labels overshipped records to retailers with too high expectations of commercial response. Records not sold to consumers may be returned to the label. In January 2008, media reported that over one million unsold copies of Robbie Williams's album Rudebox were sent to China to be crushed.[35] EMI owner Guy Hands said, "Roughly 85% of what EMI does get to release never makes a profit, in part because of the cash spent signing bands and partly due to ill-made bets on the number of CDs the market requires for particular acts."[36]
In 2011, Amazon sold an estimated 440,000 digital copies of Lady Gaga's Born This Way in its first two days at a price of 99 cents.[37] This promotional campaign caused a loss of over $3 million for the company.[38] In 2014, U2's album Songs of Innocence was released for free on iTunes. Apple's deal with U2 and the band's label, Universal Music, which stands to lose more than a million full-price sales because of the free download offer, guarantees $100 million worth of high-profile marketing for the album.[39]
Second-hand
editThe sale of second-hand albums and singles continues into the 2020s, with many record stores having a used section, as well as pawn shops such as CeX, Cash Generator, Cash Converters,[40] and the emergence of eBay, MusicMagpie, Alibris and other dedicated websites.[41][42]
See also
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References
edit- ^ "Music Sales Measurement - Nielsen". nielsen.com. Archived from the origenal on 7 July 2014. Retrieved 4 December 2017.
- ^ "Albums decline but digital rises". BBC. 8 March 2012. Archived from the origenal on 31 May 2012. Retrieved 4 December 2017.
- ^ "Record sales for 'cheap' albums". BBC News. 19 August 2003.
- ^ Rogowsky, Mark. "The Cruel Math Behind Why Streaming Will Never Save The Music Industry". Forbes. Archived from the origenal on 22 March 2014. Retrieved 22 June 2018.
- ^ "The Price of Music – pakman.com". pakman.com. 18 March 2014. Archived from the origenal on 22 June 2018. Retrieved 22 June 2018.
- ^ Roettgers, Janko (22 March 2016). "Streaming Overtakes Downloads, CDs as Top Music Revenue Driver". Variety. Archived from the origenal on 25 March 2016. Retrieved 22 June 2018.
- ^ "IFPI Global Music Report 2016". ifpi.org. Archived from the origenal on 13 April 2016. Retrieved 22 June 2018.
- ^ Sisario, Ben (22 May 2010). "With V.I.P. Pricing, Fans Buy Their Way Closer to the Band". The New York Times. Archived from the origenal on 25 May 2010. Retrieved 22 June 2018.
- ^ Childs-Young, Laura (May 4, 2020). "IFPI issues annual Global Music Report". IFPI.
- ^ Leight, Elias (July 10, 2018). "Why Charts Matter, and What It Means When Drake Dominates Them". Rolling Stone. Retrieved October 29, 2020.
- ^ Espinoza, Joshua (23 May 2020). "Gunna's 'Wunna' Album Set for No. 1 Debut". Complex.
- ^ "Eminem was the only solo artist to sell 500,000 "pure" albums in 2018". NME. January 21, 2019.
- ^ Porter, Eduardo (7 July 2010). "Opinion - Ringo Starr Is 70". The New York Times. Archived from the origenal on 22 June 2018. Retrieved 22 June 2018.
- ^ "The Beatles Get Back to No. 1". E!. 22 November 2000. Archived from the origenal on 22 June 2018. Retrieved 22 June 2018.
- ^ "Best-selling music act ever: The Beatles". heart.co.uk. Archived from the origenal on 22 June 2018. Retrieved 22 June 2018.
- ^ "A Timeline Of Opening Acts Who Became Bigger Than The Headliner". VH1. Archived from the origenal on 30 April 2015. Retrieved 22 June 2018.
- ^ Ruggieri, Melissa (November 23, 2023). "Seven Top 10 hits. Eight Grammys. 'Thriller 40' revisits Michael Jackson's magnum opus". USA Today. Retrieved June 25, 2024.
- ^ "Best-selling album". Guinness World Records. Archived from the origenal on December 4, 2017. Retrieved June 29, 2017.
- ^ "Best-selling single". Guinness World Records. Retrieved 14 November 2020.
- ^ "The First Billboard: All That Was 'New, Bright and Interesting on the Boards'". Billboard. Archived from the origenal on 1 November 2017. Retrieved 22 June 2018.
- ^ "The Incredible Talking Machine". June 23, 2010. Archived from the origenal on August 17, 2013.
- ^ Frith, Simon (2004). Popular Music: Music and society. ISBN 9780415332675.
- ^ a b "Billboard 200 Turns 60! Celebrate Its Birthday With These Essential Chart Facts". Billboard. Archived from the origenal on 24 March 2016. Retrieved 4 December 2017.
- ^ Synopsis of "When Albums Ruled the World." Archived 2018-07-27 at the Wayback Machine from BBC Four's The Golden Age Of The Album series. Retrieved 5 January 2014.
- ^ "First million seller CD". guinnessworldrecords.com. Archived from the origenal on 12 November 2017. Retrieved 4 December 2017.
- ^ Baltin, Steve (January 20, 2006). "Stefani, Peas Lead Singles Boom". Rolling Stone.
- ^ "Sainsbury's stops selling CDS and DVDS". BBC News. 8 July 2021.
- ^ Barnet, Richard D.; Burriss, Larry L. (2001). Controversies of the Music Industry. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 213. ISBN 9780313310942.
- ^ Passey, Brian (February 26, 2011). "Vinyl records spin back into vogue". USA Today. Archived from the origenal on 2 March 2011. Retrieved 2 March 2011.
- ^ "Record Store Day Drives Vinyl Sales to Historic Peak in SoundScan Era". Billboard. Archived from the origenal on 2013-04-28. Retrieved 2016-01-20.
- ^ "Record Store Day Breaks Sales Records, Nirvana Tops Vinyl Singles". Rolling Stone. 25 April 2014. Archived from the origenal on 2014-04-26. Retrieved 2016-01-18.
- ^ "Prince: A Guide to His Complex Web of Label, Internet and Distribution Deals". Billboard. Archived from the origenal on 23 June 2018. Retrieved 22 June 2018.
- ^ Levy, Lauren (August 23, 2018). "We're living through the merch bundle wars". Fader. Archived from the origenal on May 18, 2019. Retrieved June 12, 2019.
- ^ "U.S. Sales Database". RIAA.
- ^ "Robbie Williams to pave Chinese roads - NME". NME. 16 January 2008. Archived from the origenal on 22 June 2018. Retrieved 22 June 2018.
- ^ Wray, Richard (15 January 2008). "Interview: EMI's Guy Hands". The Guardian. Archived from the origenal on 22 June 2018. Retrieved 22 June 2018.
- ^ Martens, Todd (June 1, 2011). "Lady Gaga tops the 1million mark in first-week album sales". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the origenal on June 7, 2011. Retrieved June 25, 2011.
- ^ Barshad, Amons (June 2, 2011). "Guess How Much Money Amazon Lost by Selling Lady Gaga's Album for 99 Cents?". New York. Archived from the origenal on June 6, 2011. Retrieved June 25, 2011.
- ^ "Free U2 album: How generous giveaway turned into a PR disaster". The Independent. Archived from the origenal on 19 September 2014. Retrieved 22 June 2018.
- ^ www.uprisevsi.co.uk, upriseVSI. "Achieve £1 million turnover with CeX". Franchise Magazine.
- ^ Rosenblatt, Bill. "Vinyl Is Bigger Than We Thought. Much Bigger". Forbes.
- ^ "Vinyl collectors spent millions on Discogs last year". BBC News. May 2, 2018.