[Dixielandjazz] Music Sales Rise in USA

[TCASHWIGG at aol.com]

In a message dated 3/23/05 10:19:01 AM Pacific Standard Time, 
sign.guy at charter.net writes:

> 
> Do you suppose that this is the result of the crackdown on copyright
> infringement over the Internet?
> Larry

Nope, The napster racket probably did more to help promote CD sales and Ipods 
and legal downloading services than anything else and took away the need to 
go out to the Retail stores and search through bins of products for hours 
looking for something you want to buy.  The younger music fans do not mind paying 
for a song they like, but they got tired of paying $12.-20.00 for a CD with a 
bunch of garbage on it so they could get the one good song that they wanted.  
Now you can buy just the music you want and basically if you are getting it 
from a legal download site you are paying the same thing for it.  You just don't 
have to go home and record it onto your own personal CD with your other 
favorite songs and throw away the rest of them.  Or worse yet take it back to the 
retail store and tell em you don't like it and trade it for another CD. or get a 
total refund or at least a partial one.

  Welcome to the 21st Century folks whether we want to be here or not it is 
here and upon us.

  It is simply PR by the RIAA boys. 
I will also predict that the Ipod will soon replace the CDs as well, as the 
technology gets better and faster annually.

It says it reflects the amount of product SHIPPED from wholesalers to 
Retailers, and clearly says it does not reflect what was actually sold.

When you take into account the return policies in effect it really does not 
mean much of anything at all.

The guys making the most profit in this game is,
UPS, or the postal service who collects for shipping in both directions, they 
don't have to discount, and they get paid by the weight not the retail or 
wholesale suggested selling price.

The Record industry has some very creative accounting procedures  :))

Sort of like in the old days a GOLD RECORD meant you had sold a Million 
copies, they have long since lowered the bar on that one too, for more PR and hype 
opportunities.

I just read another report that said:

"The music business has changed drastically in the past five years.   Artist 
development no longer exists, as Major Record companies are simply not 
throwing cash around like they used to...  ( at least not on the Artists)   They 
figured out that it was much better business to throw it around in Executive and 
CEO salaries bonuses for losing the most money and releasing the worst 
records)."

They are now looking for the finished product and a product that has already 
proven that it can sell at least 10 thousand units.  Selling 10 thousand units 
is not easy for most acts who do not tour and sell at their performances.

Out of the approximately 30,000 New releases released each year, only roughly 
30 of them go Platinum (which used to be Gold) and less than 5 thousand of 
them actually sell more than 1 thousand copies at retail stores.  The numbers in 
that part of the game are definitely not on the artist side.

Now we in OKOM if we look at these numbers carefully and then figure out that 
if we make a minimum of 1000 units on our own label and sell them at gigs and 
use them to get more gigs to sell more of them continuously and send one to 
every independent radio station and program we can find that will play it for 
free,  ( There are thousands of them)  especially now that they are on the 
Internet.

Take an act like Barbone Street, which books and plays about 160 gigs a year 
and sells CDs at most of them and you have a decent living guys, but you have 
to get up every day and work at it just like all those folks going out and 
working 9-5.

I have two acts that I have booked for ten years that sell on average 
$190,000.00 to 225,000.00 a year worth of Cassettes and CDs  on 200 performance dates 
a year average, and these are all DAYTIME gigs too.  Hello!!!!    I don't 
even know how much they make in the tip basket, I never asked and never saw it to 
count it.  :))

Cheers,

Tom Wiggins