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Cassette sales actually went up in 2016
We're barely a month into the new year, but it's already clear some of us still want to live in the past. Case in point: US cassette tape sales actually grew in 2016, with a whopping 129,000 copies sold. That might not be as many as the number of vinyl albums sold in the same year (13.1 million!), but it's an impressive 74 percent increase from the 74,000 sold in 2015.
UK's official album charts to count records sold at gigs
Many bands sell their first albums on the road. Whether they're touring solo or supporting a larger act, some music fans will purchase their CD at the venue -- provided they like what they heard, of course. Now, the UK's Official Charts Company wants to recognise these sales in the official albums chart. Through a system called "Lightning Live," these impulse purchases will now feed directly into the weekly chart, better reflecting the popularity of smaller artists and labels. It's not clear exactly how they're being recorded, but the company says the system has been road-tested for six months to ensure the numbers are accurate. Back in February, streaming figures were added to the official albums chart too. The way people are paying for music is slowly changing -- fewer people are buying CDs from a store -- so these moves should help to keep the musical rankings relevant.
No one has a platinum album in 2014
The decline in album sales is certainly nothing new, thanks to the smattering of streaming options now available to eager listeners. However, 2014 looks to be particularly awful. Forbes reports that nearly 10 months into the year, no release since January has yet to reach platinum status -- a release that sells 1 million copies (in the US). What's more, only one has sold a million copies: the Frozen soundtrack that hit shelves last year. At this point in 2013, five different albums had hit that sales mark (Justin Timberlake's The 20/20 Experience led the pack). How bad are the numbers? Well, the best-selling effort that was actually released in 2014 is fourth on the year's sales tally (Eric Church's Outsiders). And singles are seeing the same fate, albeit at a slower pace. So far, 60 tracks have sold a million -- down from 83 at this point last year. As Forbes points out, sales usually see a boost during Q4 (holiday bump), but most of the top sellers like Adele, Katy Perry and others don't have new material on tap before the year's end. However, Taylor Swift's 1989 is set to release on October 27th, so there's hope? [Photo credit: Gabe Souza/Portland Press Herald via Getty Images]
Why iTunes needs to offer an album-based subscription service
One of the key announcements to come out of Apple's "It's only rock and roll, but I like it" event on September 9th was iTunes LP. As implied in its name, iTunes LP seeks to provide a more rich album experience, something that has taken a backseat given the decline of physical albums. iTunes LP includes features typically found on physical albums, such as liner notes and photos, as well as exclusive video content. One of the goals of iTunes LP is to resuscitate album sales, which have been struggling in the iTunes age of à la carte individual track sales. While iTunes LP provides a means to resuscitate the album, an album-based subscription service would further this goal even more.
