Music: The Cold Hard Facts

At the recent NARM (National Association of Record Merchants) convention, Nielsen Soundscan revealed figures that show just how tough the music business is from the artist's point of view. Here are the basic figures for 2009, showing how long the odds are for any artist to be successful:

• Total albums released in the US: 98,000
• Percent of albums selling 5000 or more: 2.1%
• Percent of total sales for albums selling 5000 or more: 91%

Put another way, just 2000 albums last year accounted for 91% of total album sales in the U.S. As ugly as those numbers are, it's not all due to the fundamental transition of the music industry. Even in the heyday of recorded music, the odds were extremely long for any album to make it big.