Has anyone noticed that cats with huge singles, that get lots of radio and video airplay are not seeing a translation into solid record sales?Young Dro's "Shoulder Lean" was a smash this year, yet he's only sold about 271,000 copies of his album, The Best Thang Smokin.
Sammie had a R&B hit, "My Girl" feat Sean Paul, yet he's only sold about 33,000 copies of his new joint.
Jibbs' hit (a song I personally hate, but alot of people love) "Chain Hang Low" sold over a million ringtones, but the kid has only sold 47,000 records.
Even customary heavy hitters are not moving units like they have in the past. Numbers for Ludacris (Release Therapy - 596,763), Diddy (Press Play - 230,912), and Outkast (Idlewild - 430,553) are WAY below the typical sales these artists have pulled in their career.
How will a hit-driven, Internet-dominated music business evolve, and how will that adaptation affect us fans? Will record labels begin to focus more on singles, to capitalize on the popularity of downloading one or two songs from an artist, as opposed to buying their album? Or will it force artists to make solid albums, instead of focusing on catchy trends or regional sounds to make hits?
Don't forget, Lupe Fiasco made a great album and has only sold 175,000 copies of his CD, while Yung Joc has sold almost 800,000 records, mainly on the strength of his single, "It's Goin Down."
I'm interested to see how this winter's lineup of artists will fare, in terms of actual CD sales.
The Game, Clipse, Snoop, Ghostface, Young Jeezy, Nas, and Jay-Z will all be dropping albums during November and December. Let's see how the 4th Quarter plays out.
game time,
OSharif82
