If ever you need evidence that the music industry is in turmoil then be sure to save this article for future reference. It has just been announced that for the first time ever old albums; called catalog records, are outselling new releases in the United States.

Nielsen Soundscan; the official trackers of album/single sales in the United States since 1991, have announced that for the first six months of 2012 catalog records (albums that have been on release for more than 18 months) have outsold current new releases in the United States and by a considerable margin.

As of June 2012, 76.6 million catalog albums have been sold in the US compared to the 73.9 million units moved by recent album releases with albums by Guns N’ Roses and Whitney Houston ranking as the best selling catalog albums of the year so far.

Some industry experts have noted that catalog sales have increased as a result of retail discounts, but when you factor in the fact the some new releases such as Usher’s ‘Looking 4 Myself’ and Katy Perry’s ‘Teenage Dream: The Complete Confection’ were heavily discounted on Amazon (they were being offered for less than $3 during this month), that argument seems to lose its validity.

Catalog albums regularly outsell current albums, that's a sign of a healthy industry. IIRC 2011 was the first time that didn't happen.

That's what I always thought too.

Imma need some receipts from previous years.

No they don't. They sell millions yet, but they never overtake new releases. I think I'll trust Nielsen SoundScan over yourself as they actually count US sales.....

Well are you talking overall or individually? Because one catalog album outselling many new releases is unusual, but the entire volume of catalog albums surpassing the numbers of recent releases isn't.

Wasn't L4M an R&B album? And TDCC was a re release of a 2 year old album with 3 new songs? Of course old albums will do better.

Let me go find some previous year catalog sales for you guys.

Whitney is only there due to her passing.

Amazon discounts are a factor, but I can't believe they cited Whitney Houston's albums as an example without explaining the reason for the increase in her sales.

+1

Here you go. http://www.businesswire.com/news/hom...ndustry-Report

and baaaam current has been continuously selling more than catalog albums -> http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/818/catalogb.jpg/

Basically. And as the article mentioned, catalog albums are typically cheaper than new releases, some costing as little as $5. Catalog albums are kind of treated as collectors items, so that combined with the cheaper price makes people more inclined to purchase them.

It's interesting that this is the first time it's ever happened, though. But I guess these price drops are a relatively new phenomenon.

Obviously that's a factor but Michael Jackson's death and his catalog's subsequent spurt in sales wasn't enough to bring catalog sales up and beyond current sales, so why would Whitney's? It's more than that.

http://www.businesswire.com/news/hom...2.1-2008-Music

It's not like we have 3 major celebrity artist deaths every year so you comparing it so black and white like that...

One of the big contributors to this would have to be illegal downloading (which is not factored into new album sales). With the amount of albums and songs "leaking" before release, it's no wonder sales are down. Record companies need to get with the program and start releasing new music as soon as its available. This would go some way to stopping illegal downloading. Two-month lag times between a leak and a legal copy being available (which occurs very commonly in the UK) is no longer acceptable.

this