Since Top of the Pops went and stopped providing a shop window for major priorities, the importance of the chart collapsed and, without the hype, sales have plummeted...

SINGLES
Total Digital Single Market: -15%

Total Combined Single Chart Market: -17%


Check out the specific chart positions...

The No 1 sold 28,638 -14.4%
No 5.... 14,699 -32.1%
No 20... 5,143 -27.4%

When Top of the Pops got 16 million viewers a week in 1975 I once sold 28,000 copies of Una Paloma Blanca in a DAY, let alone a week!

I suspect a change to the qualifying levels for record awards from the BPI is long overdue!!

Singles

Silver 200,000 units

Gold 400,000 units

Platinum 600,000 units

Double platinum 1,200,000 units

Surely this has to be changed?
What's your thoughts JK?

Frightening low sales.
One number one , and the marketing is barely covered.In the case of no further hits, devastation, this of course was allways the case, but this a heads will roll situation in abundance.
Apart from TOTP going, are we suffering from a lack of talent or a lack of daring signings, or even too much entertainment freely available?

since most major (and minor) ears were not great, the priority system kicked in to justify expensive signings and, with such rewards as Top of the Pops and radio play coming when the charts featured tracks, the expense appeared worthwhile.
But it never was. The punters will NOT buy shit.
An excuse was created ("everyone has developed specialist taste") to justify the lack of real, big, crossover hits.
But the public still want those giant smashes (James Blunt; Amarillo; Crazy; Hips; Frog).
The majors hate these as they tend NOT to come from "artistes" and not to sell "albums".
Which make huge profits compared to decent profits.
But these days new technology, low overheads and the internet mean someone can create and sell a smash WITHOUT the baggage and costs of artistes and albums.
The only thing currently missing is EXPOSURE.
When we work out how that can be acquired on quality and not pressure and hype, we'll be back on track as an industry.
And don't worry; I'm working on it.

"everyone has developed specialist taste"

This is an excuse, but there is also some truth in it.

The big difference between today and the 70s (and before) is that even the big mainstream TV and Radio channels don't get the "mass audience" today.

Because there are so many different "taste publics" / TV, Radio and other (internet) channels EXPOSURE is much more difficult to achieve.

So the sensible thing to do would be to forget about cross-over (and the hype / money needed to force giant smashes) and target a smaller audience / market via the (for this audience) relevant media.

I have an idea. Instead of putting a "street team" together to sell tickets for a gig, why not focus on a "media team" to sell the record? God knows, there are enough media undergraduates and graduates out there to sink a battleship! They could be paid according to results and, at the same time, they are making contacts within the multi-media world. Or is that too simple?

TOTP was a great marketing/promotions vehicle - especially in the 70s/80s

- As for the sales figures downturn, this may be because of the calibre
of the tracks released for this period rather than because
TOTP has ceased broadcasting.

If TOTP had the power to sell records and it's now gone
then this actually gives more power to radio.

Wasn't it the case that the whole music video phenomenon
had worn thin anyway and that they no longer had the pull
that they once commanded.

Maybe it's just a case of sales of singles being down anyway,
we all know that gone are the days of selling hundreds of
thousands of singles and gettin' rich quick in the process.

I think TOTP was a fantastic show but at the same time I think
it had run it's course and really it was time to go - in fact maybe it
was time to go some years ago & according to the audience figures
it does suggest that for many people it had lost it's attraction.

As for marketing and promotions - the Internet offers the best
opportunities - The Crazy Frog was an internet hit before it
reached the mainstream.

Television docco's of the making of pop artists and the process
of recording and star making is also a way some companies are going.

I am reliably informed that actually is part of the course .(albeit mainly in films)

The specialist marketing men knew how to get exposure for stuff that wasn't up to much, and they're so involved in the image and the strategy that they're beginning to see themselves as A&R... but they know nothing about content or, paradoxically, the general market.

The less calculated seat-of-the-pants exposure online using 'viral' (uggh!) downloads and videos often pays off in terms of traffic but doesn't translate into fans because the reason for sharing isn't normally the music.

I think, more and more, the exposure question comes back to 'editorial'. Trusted sources, sites, names... that reliably feature desirable content.

There's bound to be some segmentation, and we've already got good zines for indie, punk, psychedelia, etc. These "real" genres are no-brainers because every punk fan has a punk compass. It's much harder where the fan is looking for eclectic sources or new no-genre "good music". That has yet to crystallise.

you are reliably informed Martin. So why not give the undergrads/grads. an opportunity to use their aquired knowledge and skills as a platform for earning money and making more contacts in the real world?

The alternative is to pay a company thousands of pounds to tell you that nobody likes your record.

By the way, I've lost your email Martin. Any chance of a link?

Oneminutealbum@aol.com

One of the problems with giving the undergrads an oppurtunity like you suggest, is the varying quality of the applicants for the media courses, which normally becomes apparent this time of year, when the "soft option" degree arguments start getting chucked about. Very unfair accusations of course, which are very well defended and justifyably so, but it is difficult making coursework for so many people of different standards. Watch this space , we have some decent work coming from our company, which is being handed out to undergrads.
MK