What should be done to boost ALBUM sales.

[Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 716
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Album sales are at an all time low with 5,000,000 seen as an overwhelming success. But what honestly could be done to stop this.

#1 - I think Singers/bands should take time to sing album tracks on high profile performances. No one wants to see the same song performed over and over again.

#2 - I personally think that having none of the 'album tracks' available to be bought interdependently on iTunes will benefit hugely. Each single having a proper release date with a B-side.

#3 - I think also airplay singles should be released before an album, have it released but it's a free download if you Pre-order the entire album.

#4 - I think a show like Tops of The Pops would hugely benefit. Make it more UK based with lesser known acts performing as well as #1 artists. A slot for an unsigned act should also be given a slot at the end.

#5 - Stop collaborations. I've noticed many times that singles (lead singles in particular) which are collaborations tend to result in poor album sales even for this day and age.

#6 - I also think HMV should have (will never happen) but an album of the week which should be a relatively new album which is in need for extra promotion. Label it at £4.99 and have it return to original price the next week.

Any other suggestions.
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Comments

  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 1,452
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    Reduce the price... End of!!! Albums are so damn expensive to buy.
    People don't wanna waste ALOT of money on one album for an artist who in reality is not in the slightest bit grateful for your purchase.
    No wonder piracy is so high and i don't blame them.
    Perhaps throw in some merchandise with an album... "Bye Rihannas brand new album get the official 2013 calander free"
  • musicjukebox123musicjukebox123 Posts: 745
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    I think all those points are good. I think artists releasing several singles before the album comes out could help sales maybe like it used to be.

    I agree about TOTP also there is no chart music show to watch around which would get people interested in music and help sales.
    Was the show really doing that badly? I remember in the 90's it was quite big and with pop bands coming back surely the teen audience would be there for it?
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 6,058
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    Try to release a half decent album maybe?

    Noone would spend their money on an album with 3 great tracks and 10 fillers. If the album is not amazing from beginning to end, people will only buy the few good tracks seperately and fairly so. It's all up to the artists.

    The only thing the industry can do is find a way to affectively put an end to payola. No label should be allowed to pay radios to play the songs of a specific artist, because that leads to lack of diversity. There are basically 20-30 popular artists who usually fail to sell well because their songs are not even that good and all the other artists remain ignored and low profile, so even if they're capable of making a quality album, nobody checks them out.
  • stud u likestud u like Posts: 42,100
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    Who buys albums? There is Spotify and Youtube.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 7,003
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    To be honest, record labels need a kick up the arse and collectively address the digital age. They can't just continue the way they are and hope for the best, playing russian roulette with lawsuits to scare illegal downloaders. The cat is long out of the bag and fighting file sharing is a complete waste of time.

    The immediate issue is price. Charging the same (often more) for digital albums and physical is ludicrous. You shouldn't be paying for any physical production/storage/retail costs for a digital file.

    Preventing cherry-picking would be a good move too, so people could buy the single(s) for XXp or buy the whole album for £X. Make it good value.

    However in the long term, with the popularity of YouTube, LastFM and Spotify, I think it's inevitable that streaming is the future. We'll all just tap into a cloud music library from our devices, possibly with a monthly charge for unlimited access, which will render traditional music purchase redundant.
  • mgvsmithmgvsmith Posts: 16,452
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    HandsClean wrote: »

    #1 - I think Singers/bands should take time to sing album tracks on high profile performances. No one wants to see the same song performed over and over again.

    #2 - I personally think that having none of the 'album tracks' available to be bought interdependently on iTunes will benefit hugely. Each single having a proper release date with a B-side.

    #3 - I think also airplay singles should be released before an album, have it released but it's a free download if you Pre-order the entire album.

    #4 - I think a show like Tops of The Pops would hugely benefit. Make it more UK based with lesser known acts performing as well as #1 artists. A slot for an unsigned act should also be given a slot at the end.

    #5 - Stop collaborations. I've noticed many times that singles (lead singles in particular) which are collaborations tend to result in poor album sales even for this day and age.

    #6 - I also think HMV should have (will never happen) but an album of the week which should be a relatively new album which is in need for extra promotion. Label it at £4.99 and have it return to original price the next week.

    Any other suggestions.

    These suggestions are largely about going back to the past, to the way things were. Is that realistic? Once music is delivered by digital download you will get audience fragmentation and the harvesting of favourite tracks from present and past catalogues. It's going to be hard to change that behaviour.

    Downloads also make the album effectively a meaningless format. Albums are nothing more than collections of 10 or 12 songs which is a bit random in the age of unlimited downloads but probably still exist because CDs are still available.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 637
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    I feel that some of those suggestions are unrealistic. Number 1 and 5 in particular. Artists are booked on high profile TV shows to sing their singles that have been played on the radio so people sort of know them. Only big artists get the chance to perform album tracks. For example Lady Gaga on Paul O'grady.

    Also you can't really stop artists from collaborating. If it wasn't for some collaborations, I don't think people would even know who some artists were. Emeli Sande became well known after her song with Professor Green.

    To boost album sales it's simple, reduce the price (especially for digital albums) and stop trying to rinse the public with re-releases.
  • PJ1893PJ1893 Posts: 1,669
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    O.Michel wrote: »
    Try to release a half decent album maybe?

    Noone would spend their money on an album with 3 great tracks and 10 fillers. If the album is not amazing from beginning to end, people will only buy the few good tracks seperately and fairly so. It's all up to the artists.

    ^^ I think it's partly this because some albums have been selling well. In general, and I know there's exceptions, but I think people are paying more attention to reviews and word of mouth these days when it comes to albums. Also, if an artist has released a half-arsed album in the past, I think it can sometimes hurt their future sales.

    I have only bought a handful of albums this year - Rebecca Ferguson, Lana Del Ray and Nicola Roberts. How sad's that? :p

    Yet I've bought tons of singles.
  • C14EC14E Posts: 32,165
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    You have to perform your hit songs on TV shows because the producers of said TV shows want the most popular songs. Likewise, if you've got a big TV slot you want to perform the best song you have and that's probably a single.

    In terms of a chart TV show, it's not happening. Simon Fuller tried to make a show around the NOW! brand. Simon Cowell wanted to do something for ITV. Universal Music pitched ideas to BBC1 and ITV1. There have been repeated calls for TOTP to return. But none of this has been successful and ultimately it is out of the hands of the music industry. TV commissioners will decide if they want a chart TV show and at the moment they don't.

    Limiting availibility to songs just encourages piracy.

    In terms of pricing, they can only do so much. If they halve the price of an album then the album market would need to more than double in size to make up for it. The cost of an album has fallen (especially in real terms) and yet sales have fallen further. You can only do so much to compete and will never win a "price war" with pirates giving it away for free. And albums hardly seem that expensive for a 50 minute album which can be used again and again for years to come.

    We'll see price promotions for albums that have already sold a healthy amount (such as the current £3.99 iTunes promotion). I think we'll see more price points and potentially merchandise tie-ins with physical sales so as labels can create premium price points that dedicated fans will pay. Almost buying a "package" rather than just an album.

    It's already becoming about "track equivalent albums". Hits are more valuable than ever. Acts from Rihanna to Labrinth are making as much from singles sales as album sales. Brands are more important - endorsements, VEVO presence, touring, merchandise, DVD's, maybe even films. This is the way the industry is moving at the moment - rather than trying to cling on to the album.

    The album will live - but it might just be for markets that actually buy their music. Mums that buy Buble and Adele. Teens that buy One Direction. To use a sweeping generalisation, if 20 something males download their music illegally, labels won't release albums for that market.

    One obvious thing I can think of is that if you've bought 2 singles from an album before release, you could be offered a healthy discount on the whole album. But maybe that already happens?
  • Eric_BlobEric_Blob Posts: 7,756
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    I STRONGLY agree with point #1, but I also disagree with points #2 and #5.

    I'm doing a course in music atm, and it seems to be largely believed by a lot of the music industry that album sales are going to continue to go in decline until the point where they're almost irrelevent.

    I can kind of understand, because the way people consume music today makes the whole concept of an album less marketable than it used to be.

    I also think reducing the price would help a lot. Yes, I know they're already much cheaper than they were before, but the reason single sales are at their highest ever levels right now is because they're so cheap and so easily accessible (you hear a catchy song playing in the supermarket, and you can go on your phone, and download it for 79p instantly while you're waiting at the till, that's what it's like today). Making albums that cheap and easily accessible would definitely increase their sales imo.
  • FanFromHollandFanFromHolland Posts: 5,987
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    With Itunes people just bought the tracks they like, but some albums have every song except for the lead tagged as "album only". So you'll have to buy the whole album


    Also artists should stop creating 10-track albums and then sell them at the same proce as a 17-track deluxe edition of any other artist. Either stop making 10-track albums (imo 13/14 is a minimum) or reduce the price of said album

    Another point is that the physical versions are about €20,- (i guess around 17£ in the Uk) for a normal version, up to €28 for a deluxe. That's ridiculous right? This wil lead to people going on itunes and eventually cherry pick like I explained in point 1
  • LandslideBradLandslideBrad Posts: 5,085
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    People should start putting effort back into the album art, it might be pety but I wouldn't buy an album with bad album art.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 1,573
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    Musick1 wrote: »
    Reduce the price... End of!!! Albums are so damn expensive to buy.

    Not really. Compared to some of the prices people pay in Europe and other parts of the world we get a bargain here in the UK, only America/Canada is cheaper I think.

    If you do your research before you purchase an album i.e. listening to samples or even streaming the entire album you can't really go wrong. I think albums are some of the best things you can buy as regards value for money, how many things can you buy for under £10 and still be using them 20+ years from now? Not many. People spend a lot more than that on excess food, alcohol, clothes etc that they don't really need and these things are gone before you know it.

    1. They need to stop making songs available to purchase separately unless they are a single. 2. Release one version of the album only, none of this deluxe edition rubbish. People will understandably look for ways to get things for free if they feel they are getting ripped off. 3. Close down as many of the file sharing sites as possible, I thought they were getting somewhere by closing down Megaupload but that was just a small fish in a big sea.
  • Pele-thefiregoddessPele-thefiregoddess Posts: 6,170
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    Album tracks not available for individual purchase
    Singles released and bought contribute towards a complete my album reduced purchase of album
    Albums priced 7 pounds digital 7.99 cd
  • madmark20madmark20 Posts: 155
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    Have it how it used to be ,you could only go in a record store and buy .
  • CRMCRM Posts: 11,881
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    Album tracks not available for individual purchase
    Singles released and bought contribute towards a complete my album reduced purchase of album
    Albums priced 7 pounds digital 7.99 cd
    All sensible ideas.

    iTunes has killed the album. Why buy an album when you can pick individual tracks?

    I'd also say that there should be bonus tracks on the CD version, not on the digital version.
  • Jo09Jo09 Posts: 3,852
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    When singles were all physical and cost between £1.99 & £3.99 it was cost efficient to buy albums that cost £9.99ish now you can generally cherry pick the songs you like for so much cheaper. The price of singles dropped significantly however albums didn't get the same price reduction.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 1,452
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    Not really. Compared to some of the prices people pay in Europe and other parts of the world we get a bargain here in the UK, only America/Canada is cheaper I think.

    If you do your research before you purchase an album i.e. listening to samples or even streaming the entire album you can't really go wrong. I think albums are some of the best things you can buy as regards value for money, how many things can you buy for under £10 and still be using them 20+ years from now? Not many. People spend a lot more than that on excess food, alcohol, clothes etc that they don't really need and these things are gone before you know it.

    1. They need to stop making songs available to purchase separately unless they are a single. 2. Release one version of the album only, none of this deluxe edition rubbish. People will understandably look for ways to get things for free if they feel they are getting ripped off. 3. Close down as many of the file sharing sites as possible, I thought they were getting somewhere by closing down Megaupload but that was just a small fish in a big sea.

    For the record I live in Ireland!!! And YES like I stated they are too expensive!!!!
    €17 for a new album. Hmv often have 2 albums for €25. I still think that's too expensive for an album.
    If you're happy to pay that for an album then go ahead.

    I can safely say that has been the main reason I haven't purchased an album in a while... Solely down to price.
  • pixiegirl123pixiegirl123 Posts: 15,894
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    Musick1 wrote: »
    For the record I live in Ireland!!! And YES like I stated they are too expensive!!!!
    €17 for a new album. Hmv often have 2 albums for €25. I still think that's too expensive for an album.
    If you're happy to pay that for an album then go ahead.

    I can safely say that has been the main reason I haven't purchased an album in a while... Solely down to price.


    It's £10 for a new album here, and HMV often have 2 for £10 or £15, I'm surprised it's so much more in Ireland, I can see why you think that is too expensive! :eek:
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 407
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    In the end I think the album per say will not exist and artists will release their music by app that is updated daily/ weekly with new songs, rarities, b sides, imagery etc. perhaps an annual subscription fee. Spotify is completely brilliant, but chasing album sales just doesn't seem realistic unless it's Adele.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 1,573
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    Musick1 wrote: »
    For the record I live in Ireland!!! And YES like I stated they are too expensive!!!!
    €17 for a new album. Hmv often have 2 albums for €25. I still think that's too expensive for an album.
    If you're happy to pay that for an album then go ahead.

    I can safely say that has been the main reason I haven't purchased an album in a while... Solely down to price.

    Sorry I assumed you were in England. No I wouldn't pay that, absolutely not. Is there any way you can find these albums cheaper online? I have a friend who lives in Holland who regularly purchases them from play.com and says it's far cheaper that way as they even include the shipping. Which is crazy when you think about it!

    pixiegirl123 £10? You shouldn't be paying more than £8.99 for a new release! :p
  • timetosaygoodbytimetosaygoodby Posts: 2,063
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    the trouble is albums are very dear particularly when you can hear the song on radio for free, watch the video on tv or youtube anytime for free and illegal downloading is rife. Lower prices and more people will buy the music £10 for an album where you mat only like 3-4 songs is a rip off
  • pixiegirl123pixiegirl123 Posts: 15,894
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    pixiegirl123 £10? You shouldn't be paying more than £8.99 for a new release! :p

    Perhaps I was wrong then, only £1.01 off though, so I don't feel completely stupid :o:p
  • CLL DodgeCLL Dodge Posts: 115,627
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    Your average pleb doesn't have an attention span capable of listening to a complete single, let alone a whole album.
  • abarthmanabarthman Posts: 8,501
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    Musick1 wrote: »
    Reduce the price... End of!!! Albums are so damn expensive to buy.
    I bought a hi-fi with a CD player in 1987. I can remember that chart CDs were £9.99 in the Virgin store in Princes Street, Edinburgh, and I bought them by the bucketload, even though I had been buying chart vinyl albums for £3.99 up till then

    You can still buy chart CDs for that price or less, can't you? Effectively no price increase for 25 years isn't bad.
    Musick1 wrote: »
    People don't wanna waste ALOT of money on one album for an artist who in reality is not in the slightest bit grateful for your purchase.
    Who buys music to make an artist grateful? I bought CDs because I liked the music.
    Musick1 wrote: »
    No wonder piracy is so high and i don't blame them.
    Piracy in the early 80's meant having a friend or relative who had bought the album and trusted you to borrow it without damaging it. You needed a hi-fi wth a turntable and casstte recorder. And a blank cassette tapes that got hissier with every play.

    Nowadays, the ease with which anyone can freely find and download near-perfect copies of the very latest albums online onto a tiny portion of their computer hard drive and them copy them onto to their iPods, mobile phones, etc, makes CD album buying seem like a mug's game.
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