Factoid

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

According to this morning's paper, 2008 is set to be the highest-selling year for singles EVER, with total sales topping 100m for the first time (compared to 1979's 89m). Obviously physical sales are a miniscule proportion of this but even so, that's a lot of sales. (And christ only knows how many non-sale downloads are going on).

I was a bit surprised by this!

Comments

[bengraham.livejournal.com]

A very interesting thread... here's a question for you all to ponder this afternoon:

If a band releases a new album and 6 of the songs sell very well individually upon the album's release (through word of mouth, familiarity from festival and TV performances, general fan interest, ability to listen to clips before buying), does that make it less likely that a band/label will want to promote those songs as "singles" several months down the line? Will the new status quo result in more pressure on bands to release fresh output more frequently? Did Ash have it spot on when they made their announcement to ditch the album format and just go with regular EP-type releases?