Where Is Your Music Shelf?

With news that 60 HMV stores are closing in the UK, it is indeed another sad case of the stores where music nerds spent hours seeking cheap imports in a delete bin going down the tubes. In Toronto there is a HMV store, no Sam The Record Man, one Sunrise Records nearby, and a couple of used shops. Nothing more, and slowly becoming less.

Nielsen and Billboard released their 2010 state of the record report yesterday and it's another sobering round of data. Overall music sales are down almost three per cent while Total Album Sales are down 12.7 per cent. Digital album sales are up 13 per cent roughly but that doesn't mean sales have offset total album sales. Digital tracks are up one percent, internet album sales is down 1.6 per cent.

In terms of digital sales, the decade which has seen the biggest drop is the 2000s, with sales down 22 per cent over one year in terms of digital track sales. The 1980s is down 21 per cent and even the 1940s are down 12 per cent.

Other interesting tidbits include the fact that Rap is the lone genre which saw a growth in sales, albeit only 3 per cent. New Age is down 29 per cent, which is far from a bad thing. Soon John Tesh and Yanni will join forces for a huge tour, I can see it now.

Regarding where people in the US bought their music, mail order options was around four million in sales while chain stars made up 74 million. Independent music stores accounted for 26 million in sales, two million more than internet/online stores.

Selling Artists making the top ten were Taylor Swift, Eminem, Lady Antebellum, Justin Bieber, Glee Cast, Susan Boyle, Lady Gaga, Michael Jackson, Zac Brown Band and The Beatles. So, a defunct band and a dead musician account for 1/5th of the list.

Vinyl also includes a top ten list, with The Beatles Abbey Road selling 35,000 units and Arcade Fire's Suburbs selling 18,800 units. Elsewhere Radiohead, The National and Vampire Weekend ended up on Top Ten Vinyl Artists lists alongside The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix and Bob Dylan.

The most played Christmas song? Brenda Lee's Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree followed by Burl Ives' A Holly Jolly Christmas.

The top selling artist from 1991 until now? Garth Brooks with 68.5 million units sold, followed by The Beatles (62) and Mariah Carey (53.2).

So while there are a few bright spots in this information, the proof is all around: music shops closing, music retail outlets downsizing, labels at a loss for words and big box stores ensuring that CDs now become the pariah in their inventory/stock, left on the back rows if you can find them at all. And yet they still manage to sell CDs but ask around for a CD player? You have a better chance finding Jimmy Hoffa.