the TRUTH. people just want to make excuses so that they don't have to feel like it's their fault. it's easy to blame everyone else but themselves.

Has nothing to do with the quality otherwise people like Janelle would be selling like crazy. What bobby and Reed said were true, plus a lot of other factors. 2011 won't be any better.

I choose not to buy albums, not because the music isn't good, but because I don't feel like breaking a 20$ and it's right here on my internet. I'm honest, I have nothing to hide and nothing/no one to blame unlike most of you.

Ok'rrr, here are my 2 cents living as a high schooler who is an avid consumer of music. Using experience from my peers and personal experience, and the fact that I am currently doing in depth research on the topic for a debate in school, here we go.

What happens when you have a product available in a store to buy, online to buy, and for free online? Which one is going to be more likely to be picked up from the casual listener? A digital single. The digital singles market is quite healthy right now, and people DO buy singles. However, it is absolutely deplorable the low level of purchases that have been made by people...in particular, there is one person I know who will NOT buy music. Ever. He hasn't bought a digital track since 2006 and no matter how hard I try, he will not buy music. On the other hand, one of my peers is a frequent purchaser of music, but also illegally downloads. These are high schoolers that you are talking about. The future consumers of the industry's products. The fact of the matter is that these buyers are not motivated.

What's the problem? People like Bieber and Taylor have avid fans, and they will always attract those fans to buy their albums. Other than that, people don't care about buying an album anymore. That's just the truth. No matter how much the industry wants to blame the piracy and that people aren't buying music anymore in the album format, there really is no excuse for it. You can go on iTunes and listen to all the previews on the song to see if you even like it. So, there the whole "quality" issue is up in the air. Albeit highly subjective and questionable from person to person, there is a definite trend of lack of quality currently, but it has always been that way as bobby noted.

So, what's the solution?

The music industry needs to make people care about music again. Its obvious that cutting off sources like Limewire will be effective to an extent, but people don't NEED music to live. What the industry needs to do is incentivize the process of purchasing music. Give free online content. Give free music video redemption codes compatible on iTunes. Give exclusive artist interviews. And make people KNOW about it. God, no one knows about iTunes LP, so that's why that whole process has been a bust. Also, it is obvious that the price of music needs to be minimalized. People are not going to spend 15 dollars for an album at list price from an artist that isn't their fave. That's just the way it is. Making music cheaper will appeal to people much more.

Okay, maybe that was like 25 cents as opposed to 2, but hopefully you understand where I'm coming from.

Any old-timers besides me would recall the way it was in the music industry - you liked a single, you went and bought the album in HOPES of getting good solid music. If you didn't. well, too bad, you couldn't return it. There was no means of previewing or sampling. It was just buy it and deal with it (especially in the 90s).

We're in the digital era - we can now pick and choose what we want without having to take the whole packaged deal. I enjoyed a lot of singles off Katy Perry's Teenage Dream, but I don't care for the album fillers. I think a lot of people feel this way. I'm surprised people STILL buy albums.

Physical CDs are almost obsolete. Our local Best Buy revamped the store to where there is literally like 3 aisles of CDs, Rock, Pop, Others.

This.

Thank you!!!!

I was laughing at that article and some of the comments co-signing it. Crap, which is subjective, have always sold, and it's still selling. Quality has little to do with what albums sell or do not sell.

Why has the critically acclaimed Arcade Fire barely sold 500k? Is it because their music sucks and Ke$ha, who has sold over 1 million copies, makes quality?

What about Janelle Monae? Her music must suck because it's not selling. GMAB!

The only true reason why CD sales have decreased so greatly is because the transition from physical to digital.