Just read a couple interesting and promising articles regarding the current state of music sales and music consumption.

The first, from Hypebot, indicates that digital music revenues to record companies grew by 8 per cent globally in 2011 to an estimated US$5.2 billion. This compares to growth of 5 per cent in 2010 and represents the first time the year-on-year growth rate has increased since IFPI started measuring digital revenues in 2004.

The second, from Music Think Tank, summarizes several stats from Nielsen Soundscan, some of the most interesting are:
- US album sales were up 1.3% last year, the first year since 2005 that’s happened. 66% of these sales were CDs.
- Rock is the most popular genre of music, with 32 percent album share, while pop music represents 40 percent of all current digital tracks sold.
- Ninety-three of the 100 best selling vinyl albums in 2011 fall within the Rock or Alternative genres.
- Vinyl sales increased 37 percent in 2011, but only accounted for 1.2 percent of all physical sales.
- 75% of all CD sales were made offline. That means that people physically purchased the CD at a brick and mortar store or an event.
- There were 249 million albums sold in the US last year. People will tell you that the music industry is dying, but 249 million of anything is still a huge number.

Both articles are a breath of fresh air amidst all the doom and gloom that currently dominates any music biz discussion. Also, the stats indicate two key points worth repeating:

- rock and album sales are tied together
- pop and individual track sales are tied together

While these correlations may seem trite, many musicians/managers/labels don’t seem to fully understand them. Too often I see rock acts focusing on the big ‘crossover’ pop single, or pop acts working on their concept album masterwork. Not saying there can’t be exceptions to the rule, but first and foremost there needs to be a real understanding of your genre and the demographic you are catering to. Some rock fans will want a chart-topping pop single, some pop fans will want an epic concept album, but 99% of the time the opposite will be true. That doesn’t mean you don’t take chances, but first you need to understand your audience.

Either way, some encouraging articles to start the year with.

- Kurt Dahl, January 23, 2012

On behalf of Bob and myself, Happy New Year to all our friends and clients!

2011 was a great year for D’Eith and Company, as our entertainment law practice saw its largest growth of the past few years and our consulting company, Adagio Music, saw a substantial increase in clients looking for help with Factor apps, other grant apps, and generally receiving advice about taking their careers to the next level.

As we look forward to our biggest year to date, I thought I’d post an interesting article from ‘the DIY Musician’, summarizing the top 10 blog posts of 2011. Some great reading for all our musician clients…everything from search engine optimization to band politics to being ripped off by clubs. All the good stuff! Check it out here.

See you all in 2012

- Kurt Dahl, January 4, 2012