joyboyo53

Hip-hop's Down Beat -- Printout -- TIME

i get high sometimes

Decline in sales isn't proof of anything. The sales of rock music albums has been declining since the mid-90s and no one is coming out saying things like "rock music is dying". The music industry as a whole is dying. It isn't just rap. People don't buy albums anymore because it is just more convienient to stay in the comfort of your own home and get the music imported directly to your computer for free. It is easy to cherrypick the genre of rap because so many people have a problem with it, just like people had a problem with rock in its infancy, and say it is dying.

Saying rap is dying is just such a stupid thing to say. The music industry is dying is more appropriate.

Sparky

its not just rap, its the entire mainstream music machine at this point. Just because Jay-Z isn't selling well doesn't mean the genre is dying, maybe it means they're listening to better rap artists.

I think just changing more then anything

Skid Mark

yay?

TelApathy

well said. people still listen to the music, they just dont buy it.

joyboyo53

this is quoted directly from that article

"While music-industry sales have plummeted, no genre has fallen harder than rap. According to the music trade publication Billboard, rap sales have dropped 44% since 2000 and declined from 13% of all music sales to 10%. Artists who were once the tent poles at rap labels are posting disappointing numbers. Jay-Z's return album, Kingdom Come, for instance, sold a gaudy 680,000 units in its first week, according to Billboard. But by the second week, its sales had declined some 80%. This year rap sales are down 33% so far."

i get high sometimes

Doesn't that follow logically? Rap was the best selling selling genre in the music industry.
So when the music industry starts to fail, it is only logical that the greatest decline in sales will be to rap. They were selling the most when the music industry was big, and now that the music industry sales over all are falling, rap is falling the greatest. That is just logic.

joyboyo53

no logically if you are saying the music industry is dying because of internet piracy, then all genre sales would drop at equal percentages. now obviosuly the decrease in volumes of rap sales would be greatest, but thats why they used percentages to come to the conclusion that rap is dying.

i get high sometimes

If the sales of rap music pre-music industry failing are represented as 1
and the sales of rock music pre-industry failing are represented as 0
then, when the industry fails, rap is now represented by .5
and rock is still represented by 0

Rock music has had a sales decline of 0%, while rap music has a sales decline of 50%.
Rap is still selling better, however.

joyboyo53

... and yet that doesnt change the idea that it is still DYING. let me help you understand.

lets say there is only 3 genres
rap = 50% total market sales
rock = 25% total market sales
others = 25% total market sales

now since all percentages must add to 100% that means when one goes down another goes up. so lets say rap falls 10% and the others each raise 5%.
rap = 40% total market sales
rock = 30% total maket sales
others = 30% total market sales

now you notice that rap still is selling more, but it is decreasing/dying down. the only difference is in real life it is falling from 13% to 10% percent of total market sales... thus it is on the trend to become less bought than other genres. this is why they made the article, this is why rap is dying.

so basically you just are coming in here to try and make an arguement out of nothing. congrats!