Show ' I The Herald Journal Logan Utah Tuesday March 5 2002 — B5 SHERMANS LAGOON nmN60FF)np irt nmcMwlnproR MINPMmHtMtUL ! MuwxfJna Why is the 'Imusic biz killing off the single? 5fW vmtoqt y raw mtC Aamm gooun me t apnmnc NEW YORK (AP) — The first time you entered a music store chapces are it was because there was one song you hkl to have Maybe it was “I Want to Hold Your Hand" by the Beatles or Marvin Gaye’s “I Heard it Through the Grapevine" Perhaps you obsessed oyer “Night Fever” by the Bee Gees “Hungry Like the Wolf" by Duran Duran or ’N Sync’s “Bye Bye Bye” These days finding that song — without buying many more you don’t want — is becoming increasingly difficult The music industry is killing off the single Once the backbone of the business singles sales totaled 31 million last year down a whopping 41 patent from 2000 according to Soundscan It’s believed to be the lowest sales figure since the late 1940s when singles were introduced on vinyl Singles aren’t even made for many of the most popular songs because music companies think they’re so unprofitable Among Billboard magazine’s 40 most popular songs the week of Feb 23 only five were available as singles on compact disc Eighteen ¥ere on sale just as vinyl records Seventeen songs including Creed's “My Sacrifice” No Doubt’s “Hey Baby” Enrique Iglesias’ “Hero” and Alanls Morissette’s “Hands Clean” were only available if you bought a full album Record retailers complain this alienates fans ' particularly young ones by forcing them to spend more than they want or — worse yet — retrieve songs online “I think they’re losing a whole generation of record buyers” said Carl Rosenbaum-chieexecutive of Top Hits a Buffalo Grove HI company that supplies music to 15000 stores nationwide “You either have to steal it off the Internet or you just don’t buy it at all” he said “The other option is to buy a full CD for $18 If you’re just introducing yourself to an act you don’t want todo that It’s hard to figure out what their thinking is” Music executives in turn blame retailers for discounting singles so heavily it’s impossible to make money “We can't work it out” said Val Azzoli of the Atlantic Group of record labels “We’re not an industry that works together” If the single dies altogether the beginning of the end can be traced a decade back to the start of Soundscan which provided the first precise measurements of music sales Executives who long suspected that singles cut into sales of the more profitable CDs now had evidence to back that up said Jordan Katz senior vice president of sales at Arista Records There’s some debate about the extent to which that’s true though Bob Higgjns chief Trans executive of the Albany World Entertainment which owns 950 music stores said he believes singles hurt album sales ' in only about 15 percent of the cases Nickelback’s “Silver Side Up” album is currently in the top 10 seemingly unhurt by the CD single for the song “How You Remind' Me” And Santana sold boatloads of its most recent album despite a succession of singles he said Inthe late 1990s there was a brief period CATHY IS f ASK?? 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X WANT TO BE THE ONES LITTLE BEETLE BAILEY HAGAR THE HORRIBLE PEANUTS WE HAVE A WHO ISN'T THAT TALL rACCflWW6TD1HE RULES A ROVE MUST MEASURE NO MORE TUAN TWELVE INCHES FROM TOT TO BOTTOM — i LEFT-HELP- when record companies put singles by singers like Mariah Carey on sale for a money-losin- g 49 cents artificially boosting sales to secure flashy chart debuts To avoid manipulations of its charts Billboard changed the way it computed the Top 40 to reflect radio airplay as well as sales There-for- e it was possible to have a hit “single" without a song ever being released as a single CD singles which usually have two or three songs generally retail fa between $3 and $4 Many retailers routinely discount them by 50 percent or more Azzoli said And there are still music companies that encourage this by secretly giving singles away to retailers to inflate sales he said “If I could get $5 a single and sell a million of them hey there’s a business there” Azzoli said ' The demise of the single means more of ' music's romance is disappearing just like when colorful album covers woe replaced by tiny CD booklets In a song being released this : spring Elvis Costello waxes nostalgic about collecting stacks of 45s (a phrase already con- - ' signed to history since it refers to the number of revolutions a disc made each minute on a turntable) puts his money down" he scratch every click every heartsings “Every beat Every breath that I held for you” Music Companies recognize the danger but “their short-termotivation is to get as much as profit possible" said Ed Christman retail editor at Billboard “The fact that young kids aren’t buying records is a long-terworry” It’s not easy to find the section where singles are sold at the Virgin megastore in New York’s Times Square Walk past the display of top albums go down the escalator and wander to the dance section in a back corner The space that music stores used to devote to singles is dwindling or disappearing altogether One wony for Rosenbaum’s Top Hits is that the chains he supplies with music like Eckerd Drugs may simply use the space for ch “Nine-year-o- m m non-mus- NY-bas- ed es ed 1 MOTHER GOOSE AND GRIMM NGWSKIP57 SHf&BURNEP TONIfiHtf IS 5sas?Bi ic products Now he’s distributing golf balls as well as music At Arista Katz is sensitive to concerns on both sides and is among executives experimenting with ways to make more singles available though maybenot in the way many consumers would want In some cases singles are made available before an album’s release but pulled from stores when the album comes out Arista also makes singles for songs after they have cooled off as a hit Pink’s “Get the Party Started" currently in Billboard's Top 10 isn’t a CD single now but may be in a couple of months Labels are also experimenting more with maxi-singlThey may contain five or six songs — often different remixes of the same song— and are sold for between $7 and $8 The cost of manufacturing them are similar to regular singles so profits are higher Some artists also release DVD singles with a video included with' the music '“We have to get kids in the habit-o- buying music” Katz said “I’m trying to figure out innovative ways to have singles and albums full-leng- th : ld co-exis-t" ‘We Were Soldiers’ is No 1 lion in its second both down just 33 percent LOS ANGELES (AP) — Mel Gibson rallied ”40 Days and 40 Nights” benefited from a the movie-goin-g troops for “We Woe Solmarket fairly empty on light romances for the diers” his Vietnam War saga that debuted as the top weekend film with $202 million The ' date crowd Hartnett stars as a man tempted by a new woman in his life after he vows to give romantic comedy "40 Days and 40 Nights" Josh Hartnett opened in second place up sex for Lent Estimated ticket sales for Friday through with $125 million Last weekend’s No 1 movie the vampire Sunday at North American theaters according to Exhibitor Relations Co Inc ' ' tale “Queen of the Damned” suffered the 1 “We Were Soldiers” $202 million curse of many horror flicks and tumbled to 2 ”40 Days and 40 Nights" $125 million sixth place with $58 million Fright films often 3 “John Q” $84 million debut strongly as hardcore honor fans turn put week4 the next then numbers in big “Dragonfly” $68 million plummet ' 5 “Return toNevaLand” $65 million V end ' 6 “Queen of the Damned” $58 million Receipts for ‘‘Queen of the Damned” 7 “Big Fat Liar” $48 million ‘ dropped 61 percent from the movie’s opening 8: “A Beautiful Mind” $44 million: weekend Denzel Washington’s “John Q” " 9 “Crossroads” $4 million its and in third weekend million grossed $84 10 “The Lord of the Rings” $31 million Keyin Costner’s “Dragonfly” took in $68 mil- : - FOXTROT Daft TELL F YOU WOK HEK ALL MSHT PHPMMS 1ME 3UST Sot ME! o HOC! 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