End of the blockbuster album

Album sales are about 14% lower than they were at this time last year. But talk around the industry is that many are pinning their hopes on a couple of high profile releases. Kayne West, 50-Cent, and Kenny Chesney are all putting albums out the same week.

Side question: (With the industry struggling so badly, why would a label decide to go up against another top rated artist on the same day? Consumers coming to buy something at the local record store are going to have to choose. Whereas, if these releases were separated by a reasonable amount of time, you may be able to get the same consumer to buy 2 or more of the releases, now you are forcing them to make a choice and probably spend less in the long run.)

But there aren't many blockbusters any more and what's left fails to achieve the sales heights of previous years. For example: The top selling album this year is the self-titled release from Daughtry (former American Idol contestant) which is around 1.9 million right now. That looks to be the clear winner in overall sales for the year (don't count out High School Musical 2 though). But just a year ago, the top release sold 3.2 million copies (High School Musical Sountrack). That is a severe decline.

These high profile releases at the end of the year are going to help a bit (it has been a slow year for big names) but the overall trend is still decidedly heading downward.