Death of the Album Article

The internet has rocked the music industry. One of the effects is the death of physical CDs especially in album format. There is a rise in people downloading because consumers have a larger selection as well as a better price than buying music CDs from stores such as HMV which have seen rapid decline in recent years. Sales of albums on CD declined 19.5% year-on-year to 69.4m in total in 2012, as combined volume sales of digital and physical albums fell overall by 11.2% to 100.5m. In the UK singles market, track sales volumes continued to break records for the fifth year in succession. 
Total singles sales increased 6.0% to 188.6m in 2012, with the overwhelming majority (99.6%) accounted for by digital tracks and bundles. All the top 20 best-selling singles of 2012 sold more than 500,000 copies each.So digital download single sales are certainly on the rise but not all forms of album sales are declining. For instance in 2011 vinyl sales increased by 39% and in 2012 sales are up about 10%.

There are several issue surrounding downloading illegally because it negatively effects the business side of several industries including the music industry. With rising downloads the record labels generate less revenue and therefore struggle to compete and as a result they have to be more firm with artists by giving them a smaller share of profits. This is a rising barrier which makes it increasingly difficult for artists to enter the music industry because salary cuts on the artist meaning they wont get rich quickly. Illegal downloads has created firm action from authorities such as the SOPA act by the US government which shut down illegal file sharing websites and punished those responsible. However some argue that increasing illegal downloads is a good because its people trading music without barriers and artists still make plenty of money through advertising and touring revenue. The record producers can be seen as greedy because it is a high paid job yet they continue to demand more money off the consumers who are mostly on lower incomes.

Some bands dont like audiences buying singles because they have put time and effort into creating an entire album which covers different themes, subjects and stories. The single is a small part of the album and the artist wants the audience to experience listening to the album in its entirety so the audience has a better understanding of what the band and album is all about. In the future CD albums will continue to decline and Single purchases will rise however there are alternatives which are growing such as vinyl album sales which are on the increase. Piracy will always be increasing and the acts put in place dont really stop it because there are plenty of alternatives due to a dedicated community who are willing to illegally distribute music.