Member Since: 11/15/2009
Posts: 2,121
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I'm not surprised at the record low album sales - it's just a sign of the times. The way we purchase music has changed from long ago and it's pretty evident in these figures.
With the arrival of iTunes, Amazon mp3 and other places to buy, people are now able to be selective in what songs they want to buy. In the past, buying albums was a gamble - there may be ONE good song only or it might be a pot of gold. I know I had countless CDs on my shelf in the late 90s that I'd purchased for one single, only to have the rest of the album be full of crap. CD singles were not very widely available by the late 90s/early 2000s so people gambled on the album.
Now, we have greater freedom to pick and choose what we want. No more wasting money on crappy CDs - just go to itunes, sample, and buy the ones you want - it may be half an album or just one song. In the end, the user can assemble those purchased songs into a compilation of their own.
Piracy has been around since 2001 and in fact, it was much more rampant and widespread than it is now. People have compromised with the music industry and are purchasing the music. I'm not saying it's gone, but compared to how it was in the early 2000s (I was a freshman at college - oh the joy of Napster, Bearshare) it seems a lot less widespread.
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