21–30 of 43 posts
I never knew that singles sold so tiny. I don't understand why did anyone bother with them at all.
Singles were pressed for radio stations, back in the day. May as well sell 'em if you're already pressing them. Sidenote: this is where the term 'B-side' came from. The A-side of the single had the song the music label wanted to promote, the B-side had some other song that most stations didn't play.
I always really like the NYTimes graphics. They do a good job displaying info, and (not applicable to this one) their flash graphs are always more helpful than annoying.
NYT does a great job of pushing the limits in infovis, but they don't always hit the mark. This vis seems to show an approximate fixed scale on the y-axis, which is good. It means the differences in heights between the blobs are relevant. The fact that they layout multiple charts along the y-axis seems acceptable, in fact it allows for quick comparison between graphs. However, the x-axis is unlabeled and unclear. It…
So, CDs are still outselling downloadable content by as much as 3-5x?
CD sales accounted for 80% of the 428 million units sold in 2008 (from all media). In comparison there were just under a billion units sold in 1999 and the backstreet boys had the biggest album with over 16 million copies. Last year the top seller, Lil Wayne only sold 2.8 million. It took the b-boys just over a week for comparable sales at the peak of the market. If I'm not mistaken, Norah Jones first album was the l…
I can sometimes listen to a single song without looking at the rest, but that account for something like 5% of my listen, the staple being albums, of course.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
NYT does a great job of pushing the limits in infovis, but they don't always hit the mark. This vis seems to show an approximate fixed scale on the y-axis, which is good. It means the differences in heights between the blobs are relevant. The fact that they layout multiple charts along the y-axis seems acceptable, in fact it allows for quick comparison between graphs. However, the x-axis is unlabeled and unclear. It…
"Value of units shipped from 1973 to 2008"
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I know! I know! Passing a bill to force the entire population of the U.S. to join BMG. Obviously the answer was MP3s, but I think they might have missed the boat there...
> Obviously the answer was MP3s, but I think they might have missed the boat there... The problem was that it was too close to their current bubble at the time. These are the kind of things that large businesses try to artificially separate out so that they can maximize profit. Why bring in a new technology now when I can wait until later and make more money in the interim?
However, it is very interesting to not how Vinyl, Cassettes and CDs all dovetail into each other nicely. I would be willing to bet that the rise of mp3 downloads and the decline of CDs would dovetail equally as well.
The problem was, I think, the mp3 wasn't a media format invented by/for the music industry.
I always really like the NYTimes graphics. They do a good job displaying info, and (not applicable to this one) their flash graphs are always more helpful than annoying.
I agree. Edward Tufte would approve.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
> There's a box around download album sales reading $0.60 - what's that? I think that's in millions (or billions) of dollars. Notice that there is also '1978: $8.1' next to LP/EP and '1988: $6.1' next to Cassette. I think they are trying to label the peak of sales (those black bordered sections) with the volume of revenue. {edit} It says 'billions' at the top {/edit}
ok, well iTunes sales were $3.34 Billion in 2008. That's over double the combined RIAA figure of album and singles sales. http://tr.im/yZ7K I remember reading that Apple doesn't take a large cut of that amount if that even mattered here, so sounds like these figures are wrong, especially when other online music retailers are taken into account.
I doubt the former case is considered a 'single' in the traditional sense of the word in the music industry.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Obviously the answer was MP3s, but I think they might have missed the boat there... The problem was that it was too close to their current bubble at the time. These are the kind of things that large businesses try to artificially separate out so that they can maximize profit. Why bring in a new technology now when I can wait until later and make more money in the interim?
I don't know if that's entirely true - it's tough to tell without including 'illegal' dowloads in this chart, which is equally difficult to accurately measure against the RIAAs sales data. However, it is very interesting to not how Vinyl, Cassettes and CDs all dovetail into each other nicely. I would be willing to bet that the rise of mp3 downloads and the decline of CDs would dovetail equally as well. The problem wa…
If I download music illegally, I can download GBs upon GBs of music which would cost me thousands of dollars were I to purchase it. What if I don't have those thousands of dollars? It's not like you can say that I would have bought all of those albums if it was impossible to pirate and then add the thousands of dollars to 'lost CD/Legal Download Service sales.'
Earlier quoted context omitted.
CD sales accounted for 80% of the 428 million units sold in 2008 (from all media). In comparison there were just under a billion units sold in 1999 and the backstreet boys had the biggest album with over 16 million copies. Last year the top seller, Lil Wayne only sold 2.8 million. It took the b-boys just over a week for comparable sales at the peak of the market. If I'm not mistaken, Norah Jones first album was the l…
I don't understand why would people en masse download only one song from album. The rest have to be a real crap. I can sometimes listen to a single song without looking at the rest, but that account for something like 5% of my listen, the staple being albums, of course.
Look at the top charts for singles. Pick any artist in the top 10. Go somewhere you can preview the entire album and then ask yourself if you would buy it.