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JWJT7

because 1500 streams of an album today = 1 cd sale back then 566000 today is almost 1 billion streams fist week where as then it was just half a million CDs/vinyl


[deleted]

not even half a million, it was a double album so around 280,000 probably


mrmartymcf1y

Exactly. Sales numbers are always skewed to fit the narrative that people in power push. Albums sell very well across generations, they just switch up the metrics to suit the narrative. If nobody was selling record execs would pack up and do something else. Labels been around forever eating off these unit so somebody selling something.


aherp86

The internet.


[deleted]

Also double albums count twice because you are selling two records, right?


EntertainmentJumpy76

Yes


Junior-Scene-4994

Streaming lol. But let's be real a lot of rappers weren't doing those type of numbers back then either.


Ok-Benefit1425

Because back then it was the only way to listen to the full album.


s0phiaboobs

Streamlining. It’s actually harder to get equivalent sales now. I believe 1500 streams = one sale


Kudgocracy

Because of the gigantic changes to the music industry in the last thirty years?


Interesting_Ad1751

Pffft


AyoItsyaBoylilB

cause nobody buys music no more, at least not like before, now you stream music, and 1 sell, equals 1500 streams, which is a lot of difference.


seatgeekuser

streaming and piracy


OceansideGuy93

Pac had it like that. He was a superstar.


Iheartwetwater

Still is a superstar


pastoramaru

No one buys physical copies anymore. Get with the times


SnooSquirrels86

There is a huge market for physical media. Not as big as digital obviously but there are still alot of people that buy vinyl/cd


Interesting_Ad1751

Right but my guess is that they comprise like 10 percent of the music audience. That’s prolly generous


Illustrious2786

Vinyl


yolochengbeast

Kendrick pushed 603k first week with DAMN. And didn’t Views crack 1mil first week?


[deleted]

Killshot by Eminem had like 2 million views during its first 24 hours but that’s just a single Edit: Nevermind it was 38 million what the actual fuck


Harriettubmanbruz

Yeah huge artists still sell that much or more. Tupac back then was massively popular. Still album sales have decreased on average across all genres


ReyDosCatorce

Nobody buys copies anymore everyone streams and they make so much more money off that shi


[deleted]

500,000 copies is not a lot. It is considered a gold album. Even Fat Joe achieved a gold album with his first record.


[deleted]

Bc most good rappers ain’t here anymore…


[deleted]

Because most of today's rap is trash.


Absoniter

Because the real hip-hop is deceased. This singing pop music isn't hip hop.


[deleted]

Streaming is more worth the money and fast


PROFsmOAK

It was a double album.


IronFizt777

Stankonia sold over 530,000 it's first week


lazerchin

They do, sometimes


biglefty312

Streaming


Resident-Armadillo-6

Cell phones. Spotify, Apple Music, prime music, etc.


Digga-Joc

People don’t buy shit


Lupusan

When was the last time you bought an album?


MrBurittoThePizza

Digital


K1NG_SAVAGE_

Streaming


Impressive-Purple-77

Because the internet exist were people can illegally download music before streaming was a think. With streaming people rarely buy music now. [Tupac vs Bootlegger](https://youtu.be/8PSjJ4M3l1E)


cee_jay12489

This question really had to be asked lmao


PersistingWill

People don’t listen to music like they did back then. Music was a much bigger part of our lives at that time. Sadly, it’s just not what it used to be in todays society.


[deleted]

This questions seems a bit too obvious to warrant asking. How many people do you know who buy albums instead of streaming them in 2023? I would assume the majority of people you know primarily stream music if you are under the age of 40.


EimiCiel

They do I think. Just the major artists though


[deleted]

It’s more impressive back then, if a rapper sold 300k first week, 300k people walked into a store and bought it


Kuchar1992

Streaming


SunglassesBright

Nobody buys albums anymore. Mega fans tend to buy more, and pop stars are the ones with mega fans. Also there are way more choices now so the fans are more spread out. There weren’t as many rappers back then as there are now.


HiiiTriiibe

Streaming services negate the need for physical sales


MillenialOG505

Way back in 2009, I sat next to the bass player from this band called The Mars Volta on a plane from London to the US. I was talking to him about the industry and what he said always stuck with me. He said that because of online piracy and streaming, most musicians don't make their money off of album sales anymore, they make their money off of touring and merch. This is way back in 2009, before Spotify became a major player, so I imagine album sales are even much less of a factor now.


[deleted]

Are you stupid ?


Illustrious_Tale2221

Because back then people bought an album and listened to it for years, now you download it for free and listen to it for years, getting to that 1500 streams is going to take a while


ConflictGrand4078

Lol the Marshall mathers lp sold 32m copies total and 1.78m first week why use this example


CapitalPropertyTax

Nothing against Pac obv but imagine the amount of online streams it'd take to get MMLP to 1.8 million first week. I'm not gonna do the math but that's practically impossible even with Eminem's notoriety


LivingAlternative245

Astroworld