Rock Proven Most Popular Genre, Vinyl Sales Soar

[C0FFINCASE]

New industry figures from market analysts Nielsen show that rock music is the most popular genre of music when it comes to album sales.

32% of all albums sold (that’s CD, digital and vinyl) were from the rock genre, as were a massive 93 of the top 100 vinyl sold so far this year.

It demonstrates the artistic intent of many rock artists to build their albums an entire body of work, unlike with pop genres which currently lead the way with digital-specific sales, likely through mass single-track purchases.

Meanwhile, the digital re-issue of the Beatles catalog on iTunes last last year has provided a resurgence in digital sales for older music.

Our theory is that Beatles fans signed up to iTunes to get the iPod friendly tracks, but went on to collect digital editions of their other favourite albums.

Other statistics released show that music sales are up in the US this year, particularly thanks to digital sales. And while vinyl might only count for 1.2% of physical sales, they’ve becoming increasingly popular since 2006 when less than 1 million were sold - an impressive 3.6 million are expected to move from shelved this year.

It’s hard to pin down the reason for growth in vinyl sales, but this writer speculates that the special edition of Radiohead’s "In Rainbows," which came with a 2 x LP version of the album, left many alternative music fans looking for record decks to play their Radiohead purchase - resulting in further vinyl purchases to make more use of their new decks. After all, the year it came out, "In Rainbows" was the highest selling record, improving overall vinyl sales by 90%.





The Nielsen figures go on to show how Record Store Day gave a massive boost to the music economy after heavy promotion and participation from major artists. 180,000 more units were sold that week compared to the previous week.

The improving music economy will be a comforting sign to many labels and artists, and the strides forward in the music streaming sector should add further revenue to what was previously described as a failing industry. Either than, or it will somehow cannibalise regular music sales.

Some might argue that the "little man" - artists and independent businesses outside the elitist high-end label circle - continue to be left out when it comes to substantial rewards in the evolving music models, with most money going to an elite few at the top of the chain. Today we reported on Limewire paying $105 million in damages to the major record labels, marking the end of an era - but will the artists see much of it?

So let’s spark up a discussion:

Are you pleased to see music sales increasing? Have you turned away from illegal downloads, and why - maybe special edition releases have brought you back? Or maybe you’ve taken to the convenience of a streaming subscription?

Suck it . <3 C0ffin

[Drakonid]

Is that supposed to be some sort of news?

[Alucard]

First of all, I love Rock but I don't know how true this is.

It has the most sales. Doesn't mean it's most popular. Listeners of rock are generally those more orientated to by a CD, compared to people that listen to dance/techno/etc and mainly have digital collections.

And with the most vinyl sales... again most rock users are typically those whuld collect vinyls compared to fans of other genres.

Plus rock is an umbrella term and so many bands fall under it.

Lastly, rock listeners generally have an ethic to try and pay for what music they can, compared to other genres that are pirated more.

My thoughts anyway.

[C0FFINCASE]

It has the most sales. Doesn't mean it's most popular. Listeners of rock are generally those more orientated to by a CD, compared to people that listen to dance/techno/etc and mainly have digital collections.

The market is the best tool for measuring how many people like something, product x wins out of y because you support it with your money.
If you read it the figures included digital sales, which due to the enormity they make up they offset the inclusion of vinyl in my opinion.

[Brookshiii]

Classic Rock will always be the best rock.