I was reading the Seattle Weekly at lunch and came across an article that is somewhat related.
It points out, for the first time, "catalog records" aka older records outsold 'current' albums... 76.6 million to 73.9 million.
This, despite Adele's "21" selling 1 million more copies in 2012 compared to the same time last year. She is selling more this year..... and the totals of current albums still falls beneath sales of 'catalog' albums. (Adele's 21 is a true monster unseen in recent memory)
The article states (with no data...not that you can count it) that 'stealing' them online is by far the most popular way of acquiring music. Older consumers would more likely buy their music, younger consumers would more likely 'steal' from online.
We see that Haley has over 200,000 twitter followers...we can make a safe assumption that most of these followers are likely of the 'younger consumer' variety. So no surprise that Haley's sales numbers do not reflect the number of followers she has. She has 200,000 followers but not even close to sniffing 100,000 in sales.
It's a fair bet a good number have not bought her songs/album, their following does not in fact result in sales, especially if they, themselves, don't buy
(Imagine if every twitter follower bought
one album, instead of a handful of her core fans buying and 'gifting' multiple albums...
)
This is a microcosm of what the big guys in the industry have to factor in. They have to be able to project potential profits from investments in this type of environment.. factor in that Haley is a relative unknown who doesn't put out 'typical' music, so is a calculated risk as far as return on investments....her fans don't buy her album, despite her twitter/social network popularity. So it's understandable that they may want to give "Free" more chance to catch on, and delay rolling out a new single until they are certain that "Free" has done what it could.
Interscope has been good to her, in letting her be who she is, exposing her to industry heavyweights... but as far as touring, single releases and adjusting, those signed to smaller companies (Casey, James, Stefano) have the ability to react and make decisions quickly (like setting up a tour), whereas bigger companies, tend to be slower and more deliberate in their decision making.
I think ultimately, Interscope is a great way for Haley to dive into the whole process of writing and producing at the beginning of her career, but ultimately, she is made for a company that is smaller and possibly more adept at understanding and taking advantage of the changing nature of the recording/music industry and Ultimately, it will be her live performance/touring ability where Haley will make her mark...
