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Report: Rock top selling genre in the music world

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Report: Rock top selling genre in the music world

Old 02-23-15, 12:28 PM
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Report: Rock top selling genre in the music world

From nydailynews.com:


Surprise! Rock and roll is the big seller in the music world as the classic genre beats hip-hop, R&B, EDM, country and even pop

by Jim Farber


Long live rock!
The pop charts may be filled with R&B, hip-hop and even country music — but, it turns out, your dad’s moldy old rock ’n’ roll rules as the nation’s largest seller.

The latest numbers from Nielsen/SoundScan reveal that rock comprised 29% of America’s total music purchases in all formats in 2014, slaughtering its nearest competitor (R&B/hip-hop) by 12 points. Rock nearly doubled the sales of pop (at 14.9%), and it’s in another land compared to country, which represented just 11.2% of sales. It killed trendy EDM (at just 3.4%)

Maybe it wasn’t such a surprise, then, when AC/DC opened the Grammys last week — or when the album of the year award went to Beck instead of chart-toppers Sam Smith or Beyonce.

“Rock may not be in the forefront of everyone’s minds, but there are an incredible number of fans that still want it,” says Robbie Snow, a vice president with the Disney Music Group.

But it’s telling just what kind of rock fans want.

Nielsen numbers show that classic rock — by acts such as Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin or the Eagles — account for 60% of the genre’s album sales. And with cataloge sales outdistancing sales of new albums for the first time this year, those figures take on greater meaning.

“When up to 50% of your sales come from catalog, and the base of that comes from rock, it adds up,” says the company’s number cruncher, David Bakula.

Nearly half the Top 200 Catalogue chart for 2014 featured rock titles.

Furthermore, one of the top selling acts in the country right now is a boy band called the Beatles. Forty-four years after the Fab Four let it be, the group sold more than 1 million albums in the U.S., according to Universal Music Vice President Steve Wengert.

Led Zeppelin moved over 800,000 albums last year, spurred by the sterling re-release of their catalogue overseen by Jimmy Page. At the same time, Fleetwood Mac sold 441,000 while Pink Floyd moved nearly 350,000 albums. That band’s seminal “Dark Side of the Moon” — which came out in 1973 — sold another 185,000 copies last year.

A few contemporary rock albums did sell swimmingly. Two of the year’s Top Ten sellers turned out to be Lorde’s “Pure Heroin,” whose 1.4 albums sold made it the No. 6 seller of the year, and Ed Sheeran’s “x,” which moved 1.39 million, nailing the No. 8 slot.

Still, the top selling rock album of the year mines the deep past. The “Guardians of The Galaxy” soundtrack — a compilation of songs from the ’70s — sold 1 million copies, recalling the glory days of K-Tel. It's the biggest selling soundtrack since "Frozen."

Classic-rock from the ‘60s and ‘70s isn’t the only rock moving significant tonnage. Green Day’s “American Idiot” and Alanis Morissette’s “Jagged Little Pill” keep drawing audiences. At the same time, popular contemporary rock acts, like the Black Keys and Foo Fighters, draw more listeners back to albums by predecessors from Nirvana to AC/DC.

So, who buys rock? It’s not only geezers, experts say.

“Rock from the 1960s and ’70s was so good, it has turned on whole new generations of kids,” says Mark Pinkus, president of the catalog label Rhino. “Each album is like a ‘Greatest Hits.’”

Small wonder fans of classic albums buy every track, while contemporary albums tend to inspire cherrypicking just individual songs. The result helps further bulk catalogue sales.

Wengert says certain classic albums serve as a youthful rite of passage. “Everyone discovers ‘Dark Side’ and Bob Marley,” he says. “You hear the Beatles or Led Zeppelin and you know you have to (buy) it.”

Another factor boosting rock is vinyl. 71% of sales in that turn-table friendly format came from guitar-based music. And vinyl's overall numbers grew by 38% this year, to 9.23 million.

Technology has also made it easier for younger fans to learn about classic albums and to purchase them. They can check out the music on YouTube, then download it on iTunes.

According to Pinkus, the ever-growing jam-band scene has clued younger fans to both learn about classic rock albums, and to purchse them. "If you're a Phish fan but don't know The Dead, we have lots of albums for you," he says.

Of course, there’s something depressing about old music having the edge over new. Worse, more and more listeners don’t buy anything, preferring to stream. On-demand streaming songs soared 54.4% in 2014. (In the streaming arena, rock still did well, finishing second to hip hop/R&B).

If anything, however, this lends deeper meaning to what people will still pay for. Label executives say sales of rock catalog albums are already up this year over last.

“One of the great things about music is that it can always find a new audience,” says Snow. “It lives forever.”

http://www.nydailynews.com/entertain...icle-1.2126036
Old 02-23-15, 12:45 PM
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Re: Report: Rock top selling genre in the music world

The Baby Boomers have heavily shaped American culture and their influence will be felt for decades on our culture. Since all other generations are smaller in comparison, their influence will only wane when the last of them are in the ground.
Old 02-23-15, 02:16 PM
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Re: Report: Rock top selling genre in the music world

Neil Young was right.
Old 02-23-15, 02:42 PM
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Re: Report: Rock top selling genre in the music world

I just saw a teenager wearing a Dark Side of the Moon Tshirt a few days ago, so I've witnessed this trend myself and this wasn't the first time.

I've also noticed who's buying up the limited edition vinyl releases on record store day and most of them are young.
Old 02-23-15, 02:47 PM
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Re: Report: Rock top selling genre in the music world

This is likely due to the fact that few people younger than about 30 actually buy music physically or digitally any more. My 13 and 10 year old children don't even understand the concept.
Old 02-23-15, 03:23 PM
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Re: Report: Rock top selling genre in the music world

Nielsen numbers show that classic rock — by acts such as Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin or the Eagles — account for 60% of the genre’s album sales. And with catalog sales outdistancing sales of new albums for the first time this year, those figures take on greater meaning.
I continue to argue that rock is dead. Our local rock radio station plays the same songs that it did when I listened 25 years ago. Those are the albums people are downloading. Those are the T-shirts that young people are wearing.
Old 02-23-15, 03:43 PM
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Re: Report: Rock top selling genre in the music world

You damn teenage hoodlums and your acid rock.
Old 02-23-15, 04:53 PM
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Re: Report: Rock top selling genre in the music world

Originally Posted by Nick Danger
I continue to argue that rock is dead. Our local rock radio station plays the same songs that it did when I listened 25 years ago. Those are the albums people are downloading. Those are the T-shirts that young people are wearing.
I found this a bit telling... 2013 on the Billboard Rock singles chart in 2013, only 3 songs occupied the number one spot for the entire year.

December 15, 2012 - "Ho Hey" The Lumineers, 16 weeks at #1
April 6, 2013 - "Radioactive" Imagine Dragons, 23 weeks at #1
September 14, 2013 - "Royals" Lorde, 19 weeks at #1

Not to mention that all of those songs are pretty tame as far as rock goes.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...ard_Rock_Songs
Old 02-23-15, 06:19 PM
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Re: Report: Rock top selling genre in the music world

I wouldn't consider "Royals" to be rock.
Old 02-23-15, 07:09 PM
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Re: Report: Rock top selling genre in the music world

Because only old people still pay for their music.
Old 02-23-15, 09:30 PM
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Re: Report: Rock top selling genre in the music world

Originally Posted by Damfino
I just saw a teenager wearing a Dark Side of the Moon Tshirt a few days ago, so I've witnessed this trend myself and this wasn't the first time.
They're mostly posers who got them at Hot Topic.
Old 02-23-15, 10:12 PM
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Re: Report: Rock top selling genre in the music world

Interesting. Most of the claims I have been reading for the past few years is that country, pop, and r&b/hip-hop outsell rock.
Old 02-24-15, 12:18 AM
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Re: Report: Rock top selling genre in the music world

Originally Posted by Josh-da-man
Interesting. Most of the claims I have been reading for the past few years is that country, pop, and r&b/hip-hop outsell rock.
They did in the 1990s. When Soundscan first hit, people were shocked that Country and Rap were bigger sale forces than what mainstream radio was pushing. Basically Rock has held on to its fading customer base while the other genres' fans have shifted to digital options.
Old 02-24-15, 06:19 AM
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Re: Report: Rock top selling genre in the music world

Originally Posted by Obi-Wan Jabroni
Because only old people still pay for their music.
All the old people already own all this stuff. When someone in their 40s and 50s are regular buyers of physical media that denotes a much higher than average interest in music that goes back to when they were teens. As always, teens have limited resources, so the big buy would have been around the time cds hit the scene, and boomers had hit prime earning territory, gobbling up all the back catalog stuff they couldn't afford when they were new and they were younger.

I'm not surprised rock albums outsell all others, it's the one true album format. I am surprised it's the classic stuff over the newer and physical copies.
Old 02-24-15, 08:37 AM
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Re: Report: Rock top selling genre in the music world

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/fnyCJDYONSU" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Computer models predict that rock has three years left, tops.
Old 07-19-17, 11:57 PM
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Re: Report: Rock top selling genre in the music world

Update... rock is dead.



Hip-hop is now bigger than rock music for the first time (thanks to nobody buying albums)

According to Nielsen Music’s latest semi-annual report, hip-hop (including R&B) is now the biggest genre in the US, overtaking rock music for the very first time. Hip-hop claims 25.1% of all music consumption, while rock music is at 23%.

Why this happened has as much to do with US’s listening methods as it does the undeniable talent of many modern-day rappers. In the 1990s, CD sales still dominated. Digital-music streaming has now outstripped physical album sales and iTunes downloads as the primary way people listen to songs; with this new order comes both a new audience and a revamp of music charts.

Streaming’s audience is young, and young people identify more with the innovations in rap culture than the somewhat stagnant, parents-generation genre of rock, which hasn’t put out much many new icons in the last few decades. Some rappers are also notoriously prolific and business-savvy, and their off-beat marketing tactics are winning listeners over.

That said, rock music is still the biggest genre in which records are actually being bought; 40% of the US’s album physical and digital sales are in rock. But who cares about that anymore?
Well, it was fun while it lasted.

Makes sense though - the more disposable music is the one that's becoming more successful with the more disposable method, since who wants to own a lot of that stuff? I do like some hip-hop, but so much of it becomes outdated and out of fashion the minute after you hear it for the first time.

Remember '71? Yeah, that was a great year for rock, and a lot of it still sounds great - don't think we'll have another year for rock quite like that ever again.
Old 07-20-17, 03:11 AM
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Re: Report: Rock top selling genre in the music world

Originally Posted by slop101
Update... rock is dead.



Hip-hop is now bigger than rock music for the first time (thanks to nobody buying albums)

Well, it was fun while it lasted.
Newsflash! Hip-hop has been bigger than rock for the last 25 years. CD sales...do they even matter anymore? (Sidenote: How do magnets work? )

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