The Pop Corporation

People are listening to more music than ever, which is great isn’t it? And we told you vinyl sales are up too. Interestingly, looking at the sales and graphs, 2023 saw women at the front, with huge sales from Taylor Swift, Miley Cyrus, Ice Spice, and more.

In the weeds of all the data, there’s something interesting to note – and that’s heritage acts. It appears that the oldies are winning out, and new music was pretty much completely absent from the top 10 selling albums of ’23.

Looking closely at the bestseller list, and The Weeknd is top. He’s a current artist, so that’s no bad thing is it? Well, it’s a two year old best-of thing, so not exactly. Of course, Taylor Swift is in there, but again, one of them is a re-record of an old LP, so hardly new new. Pop biggies like Olivia Rodrigo, Lewis Capaldi et al were outgunned by greatest hits comps from Fleetwood Mac, ABBA, Elton John and Eminem.

Top 10 albums of 2023

1. The Weeknd – The Highlights
2. Taylor Swift – Midnights
3. Taylor Swift – 1989 (Taylor’s Version)
4. Elton John – Diamonds
5. Harry Styles – Harry’s House
6. Fleetwood Mac – 50 Years: Don’t Stop
7. Eminem – Curtain Call: The Hits
8. SZA – SOS
9. Arctic Monkeys – AM
10. Abba – Gold: Greatest Hits

So, does new music suck? Of course it doesn’t. It does speak to people’s listening habits though and the sheer force of stan culture. The classics are always going to be the classics that people gravitate toward, and there’s no denying – for better or worse – that people, regardless of age, regardless of what decade we’re in, are going to want to listen to Stevie Nicks singing ‘Dreams’.

What is a relatively new problem is that this period in music is algorithmic, rather than record shop tip-offs, indie charts, and people seemingly unwilling to read the music press like it once did. You’re either TL:DRing or suspicious of sponsored hype. It’s understandable that young people are cynical of the content that comes their way. At least a copy of ‘Rumours’ is tried and tested, right?

Record companies themselves need to look at the way they’re doing business too. Of course, it’s increasingly difficult for them to make the kind of money they once did that enables them to take chances, and bands aren’t able to extensively tour like they would have, be it a lack of tangible funds, or in the UK’s case, Brexit stopping easy touring of the EU countries.

If a music fans feels like a lot of high profile acts are designed by a committee, then you can rest a little easier listening to a classic album from the ’60s or ’70s, when it felt like the madmen had taken over the asylum somewhat.

However, new music that wants to ask questions and make an impact in the world in which we currently live, is not given the chance to thrive in a generally troubling musical business landscape. And we all know there’s great records being made all the time – but something that modern listeners seem to suffer from somewhat, is a reluctance to share the up-and-coming bands like they’re willing to shout about something established that will get more traction on social media.

Should you be a young fan who wants to get some notoriety on Tik Tok, Twitter, Instagram etc, you’re better making fancams of BTS than you are shouting about how much you loved the new Nabihah Iqbal album. You’re probably getting more attention for rinsing Alex Turner’s current partner than saying how much you love the new music from Jenn Champion.

We’re not even suggesting that we have to choose between these two things, but rather, there’s clearly the bandwidth for both. You’re basically waiting for Fantano to mention something on The Needle Drop, and if you disagree with his taste in music, you’re going to struggle. This means we’re looking at a landscape where modern classics are being roundly ignored, and that’s sad.

Miley Cyrus’ ‘Flowers’ was the only song certified as double platinum released in 2023, according to the data from the British Phonographic Industry (BPI). That’s 1.2m ‘units’, made up of streams, physical sales and downloads. Not to say that ‘Flowers’ wasn’t enduringly popular and deserves it’s top spot, but culturally, we’re hoping to see more big hits too.

Looking toward albums, and there wasn’t a single release that did enough to reach platinum status, which equates to 300,000 sales. Rewind exactly 30 years ago, and 28 albums matched or exceeded those sales. 20 years ago, the figure was 51.

So while it’s fun to be encouraged by a spike in vinyl sales, it’s pretty obvious that most small bands can’t afford to get their music pressed onto a physical format, or smaller labels too broke to press for them. This leaves a streaming environment where bigger acts are given a more favourable royalty rate and the lion’s share of pressing plant production, so smaller bands can’t make money on sales or merch, unless they’ve got wealthy parents or full time jobs.

Streaming now accounts for 87.7% of the market, and naturally, it isn’t going anywhere any time soon. It’s convenient and you don’t have to spend £30 on a record that you might end up hating. But what is a new artist supposed to do if they want to make anything worthwhile in 2024 and onward? Take sponsorships and be compromised by big companies? Corporate gigs and festivals? Pay through the nose to get influencers to make up a Tik Tok dance in the hope of going viral? Have a social media presence which requires you to be a ‘personality’ online, and pay for sponsored ads, and hope you sneak through the huge marketing spend of big companies?

It’s a weird time, and not without hope. Young, resilient brains will circumnavigate this no doubt, and there were no doubt similar conversations around for the advent of CDs, again, inevitably shifting huge amounts of ‘Rumours’ while new acts scowled at the old guard.