For the first time since Nielsen Soundscan began keeping track of album sales in 1991, old records have outsold new ones, with the first six months of 2012 seeing album sales of 76.6 million "catalog" records (albums released more than 18 months ago) compared to 73.9 million current albums. Topping the catalog sales charts are Guns N' Roses' Greatest Hits and four Whitney Houston records (as a result of her untimely passing).
Das kann etwas über die Qualität der neueren Musik aussagen. Oder es deutet darauf hin, dass die Tonträgerindustrie endlich das Prinzip der Preissensitivität entdeckt:
The main reason, according to Nielsen analyst David Bakula, has been because record labels and retailers have continued to drop the price of older albums to as low as $5.99 or $7.99, which is attracting new consumers.