Digital Tracks Outsell Physical Singles
Published November 05, 2003
Good news for the industry, although there aren't all that many songs even available in physical form, but that's another story.
- Digital tracks are outselling physical singles by a growing margin, a sign that consumers increasingly are embracing the brave new world of Internet downloading.
Digital download sales outpaced physical singles 857,000 to 170,000, according to Nielsen SoundScan figures for the week ending Oct. 26. That's slightly more than a 5-to-1 ratio.
Sean Ryan, VP of music services at RealNetworks, says that the rise of digital track sales carries a "symbolic significance," illustrating the music industry's shift to online delivery options.
He also says it indicates a real opportunity for the music business: "Selling individual songs as an offline strategy wasn't working all that well, but online it can be a huge hit."
....The singles market, much to the dismay of physical retailers, has been in a state of pronounced decline for many years. Because major labels have concerns regarding singles' potential to cannibalize album sales, only a limited number of those titles are available for sale.
Meanwhile, online consumers have access to a universe of more than 500,000 tracks at 99 cents each.
At the very least, some analysts see digital consumption trends as an indicator of growing market acceptance of the nascent online music services. [Billboard]
- Digital Tracks Outsell Physical Singles
- Published: November 05, 2003
- Type:
- Section: Sci/Tech
- Filed Under: Sci/Tech: Internet, Music: News
- Writer: Eric Olsen
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Comments on this articleComments
the numbers aren't exactly large, that's for sure
I've actually bought a few singles when it's by an artist whom I love dearly (ie, sixpence none the richer or 16 horsepower) and it comes with previously unreleased tracks.
cool artwork is a bonus.
Yes, but the important question is how do digital sales compare to 8-tracks?
Because if the 8-track cassette goes, the record industry is doomed. Doomed I tell ya!
i have a box of 8-tracks right here next to my desk.
anybody interested in a sealed copy of "Breakfast In America"?
I have a sealed copy of "The Best of Nils Lofgren" around here somewhere, along with a DCC (Philips failure of a digital cassette tape) of "Brothers In Arms", plus a couple of pre-recorded mini-discs from Sony.
Of course, that is the real joke, six years from now, how many of these WMP (or whatever the file format is) files will be playable on anything?
8-tracks? LOL! Is there any action, seriously, in the collectibles market for 8-tracks?
I have "The Best of God" in tablets
TD! hope all is well with the household.
Actually I picked it up in a quaint little shop down Diagon Alley
Thanks Eric :-) All is not exactly well but is showing signs of improvement. Someday I will have some piece passionately dealing with the subject matter when I can objectively write about it. My piece as of right now would be much too gutteral for publishing, I think.
In the meantime I'm just stopping by to enjoy and comment on the work of others :)
Add your comment, speak your mind
(Or ping: http://blogcritics.org/mt/tb/9853)
so, uh, people actually buy singles!?