U.S. album sales tumble
LOS ANGELES (AP) - U.S. album sales are down by 17 per cent so far this year, a downward spiral caused in part by a surge in online music purchases and fewer big-name albums being released in the first quarter.
A total of 135.8 million albums were sold in the United States through the end of last week, compared with 163.3 million in the year-ago period, Nielsen SoundScan said.
The number of digital tracks sold, meanwhile, jumped by 53 per cent to 250.8 million compared with 164.2 million in the same period last year, the firm said.
The shortfall in album sales drops to 10.5 per cent when sales of digital singles are counted as 10-track equivalent albums.
"It's not making up totally for the decline but at least it's able to account for some of the decline in sales," said Chris Muratore, vice-president of retail relations for Nielsen Entertainment.
Still, overall music sales are up by more than 17 per cent but that figure includes all albums, singles, music videos and digital downloads.
The recording industry has seen CD album sales decline for years, in part due to the rise of online file-sharing but also as consumers have spent more of their leisure dollars on other entertainment purchases, such as DVDs and video games.
The industry has benefitted from sources of revenue that weren't around just a few years ago, such as mobile music sales.
So far this year, more than 72 million ringtones have been purchased by mobile phone-users, said Nielsen RingScan, which began tracking the sector last fall.
One factor in the decline of album sales is that record labels have cut back on the number of new album releases by major artists early in the calendar year.
"If you look at the last couple of years, fewer and fewer of those acts have been released in the first half of the year and this year has been horrible," Muratore said.
"It's proven that if you put something out, an established name, a big name, people are going to go buy the music."
Crooner Norah Jones and country singer Tim McGraw are the biggest acts to release new albums this year, he said.
Jones' album, "Not Too Late," has sold about 1.2 million copies so far this year, while McGraw's "Let It Go," has sold 570,000, SoundScan said.
Fall Out Boy's album "Infinity On High," has sold around 760,000 copies, the firm said.
The other top sellers this year have been albums released last year by the likes of Justin Timberlake, Daughtry, and Akon.
Last year's biggest-selling album, the soundtrack inspired by the Disney Channel movie "High School Musical," was released in January. It sold more than 3.7 million copies.
"Six out of the past seven years, the No. 1 album was released no later than May," Muratore said.
Frank Darabont Hates George Lucas
The last week or so has been littered with Indiana Jones 4 news. Rumors have been bandied about on things like the name of the movie and the appearance (or lack thereof) of favorite characters. This is a project that will continue to generate interest up until release and that was once again demonstrated by an MTV News interview with Frank Darabont. The Shawshank Redemption writer/director wrote a screenplay for Indy 4 that was rejected by producer/assclown George Lucas. Darabont, who claims Spielberg loved his script, is a little bitter, to say the least.
Referring to Indy 4 as topping the list of his bad writing experiences, Darabont said, “It showed me how badly things can go. I spent a year of very determined effort on something I was very excited about, working very closely with Steven Spielberg and coming up with a result that I and he felt was terrific. He wanted to direct it as his next movie, and then suddenly the whole thing goes down in flames because George Lucas doesn't like the script. If there is one thing that Lucas knows, it’s good scripts, so I’m sure he was correct. But Darabont sanguinely questioned Lucas’ sanity. “I told him he was crazy.” Darabont recalled, “I said, "You have a fantastic script. I think you're insane, George." Surprisingly, this approach didn’t work.
/Film says that Darabont’s script may have had Indiana investigating UFO’s and included appearances from Kate Capshaw (booooo) and Karen Allen (yeaaaaaaa.) But the site also says the actual contents of the script are in dispute. Darabont says he has no idea if anything he wrote will remain in the new “Indy has a son” movie that will eventually get made. I don’t think Lucas has a good recent (by recent, I mean the last 30 years) record as a writer or director but Darabont hasn’t been able to break out of being a very good adapter of Stephen King’s work into a general movie writer, either. Also, Lucas may have saved us from the return of Kate Capshaw, which is never a bad thing. The Internet tide seems to be on Darabont’s side, but this might be a case where I remain neutral on who is right and who is stupid. I’m Switzerland here.
Timberlake, Alba on list of sexy celebs
NEW YORK - Another day, another list. But what the heck, this one is a "What is Sexy?" rundown from Victoria's Secret. "SexyBack" singer Justin Timberlake is sexiest male musician; Jessica Alba, who starred in "Sin City," is sexiest actress; and David Beckham, who has three sons with his wife, Victoria, is sexiest dad.
The list of sexy entertainers and athletes was announced Thursday. It was compiled by a team of Victoria's Secret executives, designers and supermodel spokeswomen, including Heidi Klum and Karolina Kurkova. Klum and Kurkova were to host a party in Las Vegas on Thursday to celebrate the list-makers.
"I still think my husband (Seal) is the sexiest dad for our children, but (that's) beside the point," Klum, 33, told The Associated Press.
Matthew McConaughey was honored for his "beach body."
"You know, he has his shirt off a lot lately," said Klum, host of Bravo's "Project Runway."
Other sexy celebs: Eric Dane (actor), Carrie Underwood (female musician), speed racer Danica Patrick (female athlete), Yankee Derek Jeter (male athlete), Kate Hudson (mom), and Jay-Z and Beyonce (couple).
Sienna Miller won props for her trendsetting style, Josh Duhamel for his smile and Adrian Grenier for his eyes. Cameron Diaz has the sexiest legs, while Jennifer Hudson was singled out in the lips category.
The ABC medical drama "Grey's Anatomy" — surprise, surprise — has the sexiest cast.