Rock slides as country climbs, survey says
By Jim Farber
New York Daily News
Published: April 12, 1999
Rock still rules the music market, but its dominance is dissipating, says
a new survey from the Recording Industry Association of America.
The organization reports that while rock remains the biggest-selling
genre in popular music, its hold has weakened by more than one-third in
the last 10 years. Currently, rock accounts for 25.7 percent of music
sales in America. In 1989 it commanded a 41.7 percent hunk of the pie.
So what took up the slack? If you answer R&B or rap, you'd be only
partially right. Those two genres certainly gained ground, but not to the
degree you'd think. R&B moved in sales from 9.5 percent to 12.8 percent.
Rap went from 6.4 percent to 9.7 percent. But rap actually dipped a bit
from last year (when it was 10.1 percent). That may be due to its
ever-increasing mainstreaming. (What some survey respondents might tag a
hip-hop album, others might now call R&B.)
The most dramatic changes were in country and gospel. Nashville doubled
its audience base, from 7.3 percent to 14.1 percent. Credit much of this
to that 800-pound gorilla Garth Brooks. Religious music shot up
inspirationally, from 3.1 percent to 6.3 percent. Crossover gospel stars
like Kirk Franklin led to this spurt.
Jazz and classical music, meanwhile, tanked or went flat. Classical
albums barely maintained their sales plateau, moving from 3.6 percent in
'89 to 3.3 percent last year. Jazz sounded some truly sour notes, falling
from 4.9 percent to 1.9 percent. Here's one explanation: Classical labels
have taken a more aggressive stance in marketing to younger crowds over
the last few years than have jazzbos.
Here's another surprise of the survey: Soundtracks haven't shot through
the roof as recent charts might suggest. Lately, they've accounted for
roughly 10 percent of the Top 200. But in overall sales, movie LPs only
increased by a single percentage point in the last decade, from 0.7
percent to 1.7 percent. Two reasons spring to mind. One: soundtracks have
actually been doing well for a number of years now. Two: some consumers
may have thrown some of these records into the general pop category, a
malleable slot that accounted for 15 percent of the market in 1989. Now
it accounts for 10 percent.
The survey also reveals a graying of the market. The 45-plus set
accounted for 18.1 percent of the buyers last year, up from only 9
percent in '89. Why? Because this generation, the boomers, boasts a far
greater identification with music than the previous one, something the
years cannot diminish, apparently.
The survey's last revelation defies easy explanation: women and men have
practically swapped purchasing habits. Ten years ago, Women accounted for
46.3 percent of sales. Now they make up 51.3 percent. Men went from 53.7
percent to 48.7 percent. That may explain the dominance of female artists
on the charts of late -- women want to hear women.
