There’s a nice report from The Economist on the music industry. According to some, less music is being bought. Could part of the reason be a drop in the quality of music?
How do you to measure something as subjective as that? I can’t think of an easy way, but the Economist suggests looking at the success of live tours and the number of albums sold by an artist – these measures would give you an idea of the longevity of artists, which might point towards quality. The conclusion is: “Many recent singers have toured less and have often faded quickly from sight”.
The graph drawn from the opinions of Rolling Stone readers supports this, but it may be that the kinds of people drawn to Rolling Stone magazine tend to think the best albums were written around the 70s. I don’t know – I don’t read that magazine.
It’s an interesting article. I’m probably buying more music that ever, but I’m definitely buying more singles (due to iTunes music store). “The boss of one major label estimates that, while catalogue accounts for half of revenues, it brings in three-quarters of his profits. If the industry stops building catalogue by relying too much on one-hit wonders, it is storing up a big problem for the future”.