DS Forums

 
 

Why so much hype over music sales?


Reply
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Old 16-09-2012, 17:51
johnnybgoode83
Inactive Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: The arse end of no where
Posts: 8,616

Why do people attach so much importance to how many albums or singles their favourite artists make?

Great music is about so much more than sales, it is about artistic expression. Can we not have a debate about the quality of the music rather than how many copies of an album is sold? The only thing that sales measures is marketing and exposure, they have nothing to do with quality.

Don't even get me started on people who use sales figures to boast that their favourite artist is better than everyone else's
johnnybgoode83 is offline   Reply With Quote
Please sign in or register to remove this advertisement.
Old 16-09-2012, 17:55
jenzie
Inactive Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2001
Location: BUDDIETOWN
Posts: 20,385
the music BUSINESS .....
jenzie is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 16-09-2012, 18:14
Zone_Out
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2011
Posts: 2,044
I agree sale shouldn't matter if u enjoy someone's music no matter who it is
If u like a song/ album why should sales of it effect Ur view of it?
Zone_Out is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 16-09-2012, 18:20
johnnybgoode83
Inactive Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: The arse end of no where
Posts: 8,616
the music BUSINESS .....
The business side should not concern the listener, it should be irrelevant. The only thing that matters is how a song makes you feel and how good it is to you.
johnnybgoode83 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 16-09-2012, 18:22
Pumpkin Soup
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2008
Posts: 2,176
It's mostly stans who use sales/statistics to "prove" that their favourite is better than anyone else who has walked the planet.

Sales are important to me, only in the respect that if I love an artist, I want them to get decent sales to fund another album and avoid being dropped from their label.
Pumpkin Soup is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 16-09-2012, 18:30
elasticlove
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2012
Location: Norrbotten, Sweden
Posts: 17,817
People like their faves to do well.
elasticlove is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 16-09-2012, 18:32
abarthman
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: Edinburgh
Posts: 7,839
Can we not have a debate about the quality of the music rather than how many copies of an album is sold?
How do you measure the quality of the music?

Whose opinion counts? Professional music reviewers? Musicians? Those who have the the most fans on the forum (Jedward fans!)? Or the music "snobs" who constantly extol the virtues of some obscure band or performer right up until they gain a modicum of commercial success?

Sales figures are about the only reasonably objective measure.
abarthman is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 16-09-2012, 18:35
Martimater
Inactive Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2012
Posts: 328
If you don't sell you don't make the dosh, and if you don't make the dosh you get dropped. Tis how the music business works I'm afraid.
Martimater is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 16-09-2012, 18:37
siriusrose
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2011
Posts: 1,646
The business side should not concern the listener, it should be irrelevant. The only thing that matters is how a song makes you feel and how good it is to you.
It becomes relevant to a fan when an artist get's dropped because of lack of sales though. If you enjoy an artists music presumably you would like to hear future albums by them, if they aren't making the money then the record label will drop them and for many than will be the last you hear.

For most new (pop) artists it tends to be a successful single will mean an album will be released, if the album does well then they will tour and a successful tour/album will mean future releases. All things fans would want.

I completely agree with quantity of sale has little reflection of quality (although it does a bit) and the success (or lack of) of a song/album should not change your personal opinion of it. But if you really like an artists then you're almost forces into caring.

For me personally, I find that my favourite songs by artists tend to do less well because if they do get released as singles they get little promotion compared to the lead singles, but I still love them regardless. And I have to confess I love chart stuff, I love seeing statistics, how long a song managed to stay in the top 40, who has the most #1s etc. And it's rewarding to see the songs/albums/artists you do enjoy do well.

That's just my thoughts on it anyway. I also agree with what abarthman said too.
siriusrose is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 16-09-2012, 18:37
Slojo
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2006
Posts: 2,429
Don't dissagree but the problem is that "Quality" is subjective and sales not so much so

One persons "quality" artist is anothers artist from hell and you will never change someones opinion either way so debates about "quality" usualy just become point scoring arguments that go round in circles.

Thats usualy when the sales argument gets thrown in because its easier to prove your favorite has sold a million albums more that the other artist than it is to convince a detractor that your artist creates better "quality" music
Slojo is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 16-09-2012, 19:53
Coen
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2008
Posts: 5,653
Don't dissagree but the problem is that "Quality" is subjective and sales not so much so

One persons "quality" artist is anothers artist from hell and you will never change someones opinion either way so debates about "quality" usualy just become point scoring arguments that go round in circles.

Thats usualy when the sales argument gets thrown in because its easier to prove your favorite has sold a million albums more that the other artist than it is to convince a detractor that your artist creates better "quality" music
I do agree that this is why people use sales figures, but to me it demonstrates that the main focus of discussion on this forum is around people trying to win arguments about who is "better", rather than a more open discussion about the relative merits of different types of music/artist and perhaps an attempt to share or discover new/interesting music which is what I see on pretty much every other music forum I post on.

I've never really understood why DS is like this, but there's not a lot that can be done about it.
Coen is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 16-09-2012, 21:09
3 $pirit
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: Yorkshire, England
Posts: 3,024
Why do people attach so much importance to how many albums or singles their favourite artists make?

Great music is about so much more than sales, it is about artistic expression. Can we not have a debate about the quality of the music rather than how many copies of an album is sold? The only thing that sales measures is marketing and exposure, they have nothing to do with quality.

Don't even get me started on people who use sales figures to boast that their favourite artist is better than everyone else's
Because its good to see acts that you like get the success you feel they deserve or disappointing when they don't. Obviously if people didn't like their music in the first place then they wouldn't care about their sales otherwise everyone would just follow Adele Obviously everyone thinks the music quality is the most important factor but for some, me included, sales are interesting and are vital to some acts as they could be dropped and not release anymore music in the future to enjoy.
3 $pirit is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 16-09-2012, 21:35
rbautz
Forum Member
 
Join Date: May 2012
Posts: 1,149
Hype about music sales (in a longer duration of time) of artists are important, because it's an measure of success and artistic. Let's talk about the classical periode e.g.1600(Monteverdi) till 1975(Dimitri Scostakowitsch) how many can you name of these composers, maybe 20 because these are the best and the well-known composers. I love classical music the most and can name approx 100, but I can assure you there are none of these 80 composers who are objective better than the 20. I think the people in 200 Years can name only a handfull artists of our time an they will be the best and the artists with the most sales.
rbautz is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 16-09-2012, 21:46
johnnybgoode83
Inactive Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: The arse end of no where
Posts: 8,616
Hype about music sales (in a longer duration of time) of artists are important, because it's an messure of success and artistic. Let's talk about the classical periode e.g.1600(Monteverdi) till 1975(Dimitri Scostakowitsch) how many can you name of these composers, maybe 20 because these are the best and the well-known composers. I love classical music the most and can name approx 100, but I can assure you there are none of these 80 composers who are objective better than the 20. I think the people in 200 Years can name only a handfull artists of our time an they will be the best and the artists with the most sales.
I can't name you the artists of the last 5 years who have had the most sales.
johnnybgoode83 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 16-09-2012, 21:58
rbautz
Forum Member
 
Join Date: May 2012
Posts: 1,149
I can't name you the artists of the last 5 years who have had the most sales.
I meant with our time the last 60 Years.
rbautz is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 16-09-2012, 22:07
konebyvax
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: Ignoringtrollsville
Posts: 7,875
I always find it slightly selfish when fans of an artist don't care about their sales lol. If you are a fan surely you would want them to do well? it''s almost like some fans want to keep their faves as their little secret and actually get upset if they 'take off'. I find that quite weird.
konebyvax is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 16-09-2012, 22:12
johnnybgoode83
Inactive Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: The arse end of no where
Posts: 8,616
I always find it slightly selfish when fans of an artist don't care about their sales lol. If you are a fan surely you would want them to do well? it''s almost like some fans want to keep their faves as their little secret and i find that quite weird.
It's all about context. I couldn't give a toss about sales when talking about how good a song/album/artist is. Sales numbers are not a measure of how good an artist is, it is a measure of how well they are marketed.

There are thousands of musicians out there who never sell 1000 copies of an album but that does not make them any less great. Too many people seem to think sales are the be all and end all.
johnnybgoode83 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 16-09-2012, 23:11
Smudged
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2004
Posts: 2,282
I always find it slightly selfish when fans of an artist don't care about their sales lol. If you are a fan surely you would want them to do well? it''s almost like some fans want to keep their faves as their little secret and actually get upset if they 'take off'. I find that quite weird.
What a stupid way to look at it. Not being interested in sales figures doesn't mean you don't want them to do well. It means you're not concerning yourself with something you have zero control over and which doesn't make any difference to how you feel about the artist and their music. If you look at music as an art form rather than as a competition to see who can appeal to the most people and make the most money then sales don't even come into the equation. And if an artist really can't sustain a career as a musician (or at least carry on releasing music in some way) because of lack of sales/support then they're either not talented enough or their heart's not in it and it's time to do something else.
Smudged is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 17-09-2012, 06:57
konebyvax
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: Ignoringtrollsville
Posts: 7,875
What a stupid way to look at it. Not being interested in sales figures doesn't mean you don't want them to do well. It means you're not concerning yourself with something you have zero control over and which doesn't make any difference to how you feel about the artist and their music. If you look at music as an art form rather than as a competition to see who can appeal to the most people and make the most money then sales don't even come into the equation. And if an artist really can't sustain a career as a musician (or at least carry on releasing music in some way) because of lack of sales/support then they're either not talented enough or their heart's not in it and it's time to do something else.

You seem to have completely misunderstood my point and this wouldn't be the first time either. And please calm down with the language used (first sentence). It's one thing getting your point across but yet another being abusive in doing so. I have a rule - I never say anything on the internet I wouldn't say to someone's face, maybe this is something you should consider adopting personally? You are now on ignore. it's for the best.
konebyvax is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 17-09-2012, 12:23
Smudged
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2004
Posts: 2,282
You seem to have completely misunderstood my point and this wouldn't be the first time either. And please calm down with the language used (first sentence). It's one thing getting your point across but yet another being abusive in doing so. I have a rule - I never say anything on the internet I wouldn't say to someone's face, maybe this is something you should consider adopting personally? You are now on ignore. it's for the best.
I'd say that to your face no problem. Your point is quite easy to understand. You think people are weird for not being interested in sales figures and chart positions like you are. You can't get your head around people simply judging music on it's own merits and not becoming a cheerleader about how well they're doing or seeing it as a competition, using words like "faves", "haters", "pressed fans" etc as you do. It doesn't surprise me that you've put me on ignore as that's been your tactic in the past when we've discussed things. Ignore responses you don't like and report to the mods for the slightest thing. That's why I have so little patience with you now.
Smudged is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 17-09-2012, 17:45
Scratchy7929
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Dec 2008
Posts: 3,167
1) Insecure music stans
2) Because we're in a 'consumer society' rather than a 'market economy' now http://www.cbpp.uaa.alaska.edu/afef/...g-Hedonism.htm
Scratchy7929 is offline   Reply With Quote
 
Reply




 
Forum Jump


All times are GMT. The time now is 15:13.