Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Vinyl Sales Up

Various numbers from the music industry:

Music is really long tail - in 2007, 450,344 of the 570,000 albums sold were purchased less than 100 times. 1,000 albums accounted for 50% of all album sales.

The music industry had its biggest sales week since they started keeping records, with 58 million units sold in the last week of 2007. The previous record was 47 million during the last week of 2006.

13% of all album sales come from American Idol and the Disney franchises.

CD sales are down 31% since 2004, but digital music sales are up 490%.

Surprisingly, Vinyl sales are coming back - they grew 15% in 2007 and are up 70% in the first 3 months of this year. Mostly in indie vinyl.

1 out of 4 albums are purchased in a non-traditional retail store (i.e. internet, or at a concert).

80,000 albums were released in 2007

844 million digital tracks sold in 2007, 1% of all digital tracks accounted for 80% of all track sales.

This Date In Music History- May 13

Richard Steven Valenzuela, better known as Ritchie Valens, was born in Los Angeles in 1941.

'Rastaman Vibration,' by Bob Marley and the Wailers – and featuring an American, Don Kinsey, on lead guitar – was released in 1976. It becomes Marley’s highest-charting album, reaching #8 in the U.S. and #15 in the U.K.

Young Steveland Morris was born today in Saginaw, Michigan. He is best known to the world as Stevie Wonder, unleashing a masterful series of hits that included "Superstition," "I Wish," and "Sir Duke."

The late Mary Wells was born in 1943. Her 1964 No. 1 hit, the Smokey Robinson-penned "My Guy,” helped launched Motown Records.

The late Nervous Norvus ("Transfusion"-- nee James Drake) was born in 1912.

Tommy Chong of Cheech & Chong pled guilty to selling drug paraphernalia over the Internet in 2003. Surprise!

In 1975, a radio station in Jacksonville, Florida knocked out the city's phone service giving away tickets to Elvis Presley's concert.

The Beatles' "Let It Be" film opened in New York City in 1970.

In 1979, Donny & Marie Osmond's "A Little Bit Of Country, A Little Bit Of Rock 'n' Roll" special on ABC-TV included guests Chuck Berry and Chubby Checker.

Elvis Presley's "Tickle Me" movie premiered in Hollywood (it opens nationally two weeks later) in 1965.

Today in 1967, the song "Somethin' Stupid" by Nancy Sinatra & Frank Sinatra topped the charts and stayed there for 4 weeks.

In 1975, Bob Wills, the biggest star in the western swing firmament, died in a nursing home at age 70. He had been in a coma since suffering a stroke in 1973. With the Texas Playboys, he had scored six country No. 1's.

Danny Kirwan, guitarist and vocalist in early incarnations of Fleetwood Mac, was born in 1950.

In 1957, Elvis Presley began shooting one of his better movies, Jailhouse Rock.

The Rolling Stones released “Paint It Black” in 1966, with sitar by Brian Jones and brilliant drumming from Charlie Watts.

The Beatles At The Hollywood Bowl” was released in 1977. The album is a compilation of two shows – one in 1964 and the other in 1965. There’s a lot of screaming but it shows what The Beatles could do live.

Appearing on sex therapist Dr. Ruth Westheimer’s TV show in 1986, Ted Nugent demurely states, “Life is one big female safari.” Wango Tango!

In 1955, Elvis Presley's performance in Jacksonville, Florida is the first Presley show at which a riot ensues. After Elvis tells the audience, "Girls, I'll see you backstage,” he has some of his clothes ripped off, but escapes unharmed.

The Bee Gees entered the UK Pop chart for the first time in 1967 with "New York Mining Disaster 1941.”

After singing background vocals for Eric Clapton's "I Shot The Sheriff" in 1974, Yvonne Elliman had a US number one hit of her own with "If I Can't Have You” in 1978. The song reached #4 in the UK.