Record labels are approaching another financially weak year. According to Variety, the music industry officially closed out with a total of 297.9 million albums sold for the third quarter making it already 12 percent less than the previous year. 2007 saw a total of 500.5 million in sales with over 30 percent of the records purchased stemming from the fourth quarter. However, this year the industry would have to up that amount to over 40 percent. With a strong line-up of upcoming albums believed to drop before 2009 including releases from Kanye West, 50 Cent, Jay-Z, Ludacris, Busta Rhymes and possible albums from Dr. Dre, Eminem and Andre 3000, the goal may still be attainable.
Record sales are lower than ever, but boy those 100 pack of blank discs from Best Buy are selling like hot cakes. Help should be on its way with Kanye and Luda looking to drop albums this year. We would love to buy those albums, but times are so tough we might have to use one of our blank discs and go without the pretty pictures and credits on the “real album.” Sad face.
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