> -----Original Message----- > From: David Bate [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > Sent: 06 October 2004 18:24 > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Cc: /0; 313 Detroit; Cyclone Wehner > Subject: Re: (313) techno isn't selling > > > I keep hearing this from people - artists, record labels, record > > stores, etc. but is there any source for stats? I'd like to > see some > > numbers compared from year to year about the drop in sales > of DJ vinyl > > to back up what people are saying. Not that I do or do not believe > > them, I just would like to know if any group has tracked the sales > > figures either in a specific country or globally. > > > > any DJ trade magazines cover this? > > Hi Michael, > I really don't think these statistics are available. In > the US, these are kept by the RIAA (http://www.riaa.org) and > internationally it is keptby International Federation of the > Phonographic Industry (http://www.ifpi.org). > But they don't break it down into Genre's. And I'm sure > that you're > average small "mom and pop" record store isn't reporting > their sales to the RIAA. So you have a breakdown. > The only people that really know in the Techno world are > the artists, record labels, distributors, and record stores > that are seeing that they aren't selling as much now as what > they were. > > > If I'm wrong, please point me to these statistics, as I and many other > people would love to see the break down of Dance Music sales over the > last 10 years.
We seem to be having this discussion fairly regularly. It should be pointed out that not all stores/labels/distributors are suffering, in fact some are growing, and some of them at a fast rate. By all means these are the exceptions to the rule, but I think it can be too easy to focus on the majority in these discussions. If anything, I find it difficult to find a lot of new releases that I'm really after, and that to me spells a healthy underground market. It's unquestionable that most techno labels are not doing as well as they could be and that distribution choices have dwindled, but other genres don't suffer as much. I'd be really surprised if labels like Stones Throw, KDJ, Warp, Rephlex, Peacefrog, IIWII, JCR, Ghostly, the Goya camp, etc are hurting at the moment, and I'd say most of that health is attributed to their consistent quality alone. Stores like Piccadilly, Juno and Vinyl Junkies are growing fast because of their online presence and Rub-A-Dub is set to join them. Groovetech seems to be the counter-example to this, but you could argue they stretched themselves a little too thin from the moment they tried to run three stores and dominate the online listening markets. At least in Europe, it may be that you won't be able to compete without being online (which doesn't mean you can't have a shop as well, but you know what I mean). Still, I'd like to see the stats if they existed. Tristan ======= http://www.phonopsia.co.uk [EMAIL PROTECTED]
