Solving the Record Sales Problem

In my previous article called"Declining Record Sales: What's Really to Blame", I discussed some of the issues I feel are contributing to the problems facing the Music industry today. I wanna revisit the topic to not only talk about these issues, but what can be done to help solve the problem. Record executives, get ready to hear from a fan on the issue.

To clarify, I want to say that I am against downloading full albums for free or using it as a way to never buy music. I also do not like the fact that tracks are sometimes leaked without the artist's permission. However, there are other issues that are really at the core of the issue and you know what they say: for every problem, there is a solution.

One of the issues I mentioned in the last article was the quality of material being released. After all, why would a music fan want to pay almost $20.00 for a CD that is sub-par at best? 2007 actually provided an excellent example of the Industry's insistence on sub-par "catchy" songs: My December. It's an old story by now: Clive Davis, head of RCA, did not want to release Kelly Clarkson's third CD because he did not think there were "hits" on it. He also felt the material was just too dark to be a mainstream success. What followed was a major war played out in the press, with each side attacking the other. Despite all this (and a severe lack of promotion beyond the first single), the disc went on to go Platinum. Imagine the kinds of sales RCA could have seen had they just promoted the disc properly.

MP3. It's a dirty word among record executives and some music groups have been slow to allow their music to be made available for sale in the format. Universal Music Group recently got criticism for prohibiting their artists from making full songs available for play on their myspace pages and other online sites. This is a mistake because, let's face it: the times change rapidly and if you don't strive to keep up, you get left behind. 8 Tracks were the big thing in the 70s when along came the audio tape we know today. Soon came CDs and today it is practically impossible to find a record or audio tape anywhere. These changes are inevitable and the labels need to realize this and adapt to the new technology.

Related to this is the internet. It is a huge promotional resource and the labels would do well to take full advantage of it. This means working with the fans instead of attacking them. If some users choose to share favorite videos on their web sites why not look the other way? These fans are basically providing a free service to the record industry. They are showcasing artists to a wider audience in a day when videos are hard to find and the labels do not have to pay a cent for this exposure. Plus, the ringing endorsement of a fellow fan can do wonders for a song or album. More so than any music critic.

Finally, the Industry has had a problem with tracks getting leaked before they are ready. In some cases, these songs were never meant to be released to start with. I can see why the artists and labels would be angry about this, but I would challenge them to look elsewhere for solutions to the problem. Common sense says that the average music fan is not coming across these and share them by chance. Someone who had access to the masters had to have leaked them to start with. It would be much more effective to look into the problem internally and implementing a few security measures rather than going after the fans who shared them.

The problem with record sales did not happen overnight and it was not due to one particular thing. It is time for the Industry to take a good long look at the situation and maybe make use of the points discussed above. Get together with fans and artists alike and really listen to what they have to say. Working together is the only way to effectively solve any problem.