Well, it’s finally happened. After two years of explosive growth in digital music downloads, the bubble has stopped expanding.
According to a Sept. 27 Reuters article citing a study by Nielsen SoundScan, digital music sales in the United States were flat for the first half of the year.
This is the first time since 2007 that sales haven’t grown by double-digit amounts in the United States. Sales last year were 13 percent over 2008, which saw 28 percent growth over 2007.
Nielsen Music’s managing director, Jean Littolff, told Reuters the stall could be due to a number of factors, including weak consumer confidence, less appealing releases or confusion over the many means of acquiring new music.
The study also reported significant growth in music streaming activity, which makes sense. With so many options available to stream for free through cloud services, Internet radio or YouTube, the concept of buying music is becoming a tougher sell.
After all, with limitless access to streamed music, why bother shelling out? My father certainly won’t. He listens to Internet radio on his BlackBerry almost exclusively, despite having owned several mp3 players.
The really strange twist to the Nielsen study is that, while single-song downloads are flat, downloads of full albums are on the rise, to the tune of 13 percent over last year.
To most of those who have grown up in the mp3 era, this is probably a baffling development. Ever since iTunes began operating in 2003, its supporters have trumpeted being able to purchase tracks a la carte as its greatest feature. Rising full-album sales fly in the face of that.
Then again, I’ve always thought picking and choosing tracks detracts from the artist’s intended listening experience. Since last year, I’ve bought about 250 albums, including several dozen from this summer split 50/50 between physical discs and digital downloads.
Yes, that’s a lot of money to throw at a luxury item at a time when the economy is in such a perilous state, but I’m an entertainment completionist, which is why I can’t buy just a few tracks off an album. (It’s also my only excuse for owning “Spider-Man 3”).
Still, I’m an oddity, which raises the question of why others are also starting to appreciate owning the full release, warts and all, instead of cherry-picking the hits.
Maybe artists are beginning to gravitate toward recording albums with a unifying theme that makes the whole greater than the sum of the parts. Based on the recent release of stellar concepts albums such as Janelle Monáe’s “ArchAndroid” and Arcade Fire’s “The Suburbs,” you could certainly make that argument.
Despite full-album growth, some might look at Nielsen’s study and the current economic climate and conclude digital music’s bubble is set to burst, but I think that’s being hasty. Sales may be flat, but according to the study, thanks to an increase in per-unit prices, they’ve yielded higher revenue than last year. Besides, one year does not a trend make.
Contact Casey Phillips at cphillips@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6205.