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Digital Audio Insider is David Harrell's blog about the economics of music and other digital content. I write from
the perspective of a musican who has self-released four albums with the indie rock band the Layaways.
My
personal website has links to my LinkedIn and Google+ pages and you can send e-mail to david [at] thelayaways [dot] com.
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More Money, Less Music
by David HarrellMore Money, Less Music?
My friend Amy at Shake Your Fist clued me in to this recent Economist chart. The US is first in total music sales, but only fourth in music sales per person:
truncated version of graph click it to see the full version
While the Economist claims that fans "buy more music per person" in Britain, Japan, and Norway, that might not be true. They're spending more, but based on pricing differences for CDs and digital downloads relative to the US, it seems more likely they're just paying more for the same amount of (or even less) music. (At least in Britain and Japan, I don't know about music prices in Norway relative to the US.) What I'd really like to see is a breakdown of average number of albums or songs purchased each year by music fans in each country.
"The Layaways make fine indie pop. Hushed vocals interweave with understated buzzing guitars. The whole LP is a revelation from the start." -- Lost Music
"Catchy Guided by Voices-like rockers who lay it on sweetly and sincerely, just like Lionel Richie." -- WRUV Radio
"These are songs that you want to take home with you, curl up with, hold them close -- and pray that they are still with you when you wake up." -- The Big Takeover