Headlines

December 22, 2008

Study: 85% Of All Tracks Released in 2008 Did Not Sell Even One Copy...

The Times (UK) | Read Full Story >

The internet was supposed to bring vast choice for customers, access to obscure and forgotten products – and a fortune for sellers who focused on niche markets.

But a study of digital music sales has posed the first big challenge to this “long tail” theory: more than 10 million of the 13 million tracks available on the internet failed to find a single buyer last year.


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#1 wheatus says:

should labels try to consolidate their efforts behind the 15% that sold?

I don't fully believe this article.

brendan b brown
wheatus.com

#2 Nate says:

Yeah, I agree. The math seems off.

#3 Mark | Retroblique says:

The fact that they don't name their sources makes me doubt the validity of this claim.

I can see it if you just take iTunes into account, but they're overlooking the fact that the further down the long tail you go, the further consumers stray from the big digital download providers.

I.e., I buy a lot of my digital downloads from Bleep, Beatport, Boomkat and (where possible) directly from the labels/artists themselves. I doubt this so called "study" pulled sales figures from those sources.

#4 1n5aN1aC_041 says:

I belive maybe halve of them, or *0% didn't sell over 10, or something like that, but 80% didn't even sell 1? State your sources.


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