According to data earlier this week from user-generated record collector site Discogs, since the 1960s the amount of music released globally has increased by roughly seven times.
“Unlike CDs or downloads, which generate revenue once, streaming a song generates royalties every time,” Shah says. “That has major labels bidding on catalogs of music and reissuing old music as they battle for market share.”
The amount of music albums from Nielsen support the findings from Discogs. Last year 150,000 albums sold at least one digital or physical copy, which is staggering considering the 36,000 that sold in 2000.
This might explain why some artists are releasing music faster than ever. One example is King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard, who released five albums in 2017, and have made 13 studio albums in the short space of five years.
Though there’s more music available than ever before it is much more difficult for artists to make an impression to the listeners.
It is really needed to be seen or understood the long-term effects of the shift on artists, but in the meantime, this trend shows no signs of slowing.
> Shiuly Akter
Artists Now Releasing More Music than Before
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