why the explosion of album sales in the 70s

[AntiSnob]

or conversely why were album sales so weak before then?

If you look at the top ten best studio albums of the 1960s (this excludes soundtracks, compilation and live albums), here they are, according to the riaa

1) The White Album 1968 19x Platinum
2T) Abbey Road 1969 12x Platinum
2T) Led Zeppelin II 1969 12x Platinum
4) Sgt Pepper 1967 11x Platinum
5) Led Zeppelin 1969 8x Platinum
6) Rubber Soul 1965 6x Platinum
7T Meet the Beatles 1964 5x Platinum
7T Revolver 1966 5x Platinum
7T The Monkees 1966 5x Platinum
7T More of the Monkees 1967 5x Platinum

Now for the 70s

1 The Wall 1979 23x Platinum
2 Zoso 1971 22x Platinum
3 Rumours 1977 20x Platinum
4 Boston 1976 17x Platinum
5T Hotel California 1976 16x Platinum
5T Physical Graffiti 1975 16x Platinum
7 Dark Side of the Moon 1973 15x Platinum
8 Bat Out of Hell 1977 14x Platinum
9 Houses of the Holy 1973 11x Platinum
10T Tapestry 1971 10x Platinum
10T Songs in the Key of Life 1976 10x Platinum
10T The Stranger 1977 10x Platinum
10T Van Halen 1978 10x Platinum

Also, when looking at the albums from the 60s - you'll notice that most of those albums were in the backend of the decade. I mean the music business had been around long before then - but what caused people to all of a sudden start buying albums around 1967 or so?

 

[jbindm]

or conversely why were album sales so weak before then?

If you look at the top ten best studio albums of the 1960s (this excludes soundtracks, compilation and live albums), here they are, according to the riaa

1) The White Album 1968 19x Platinum
2T) Abbey Road 1969 12x Platinum
2T) Led Zeppelin II 1969 12x Platinum
4) Sgt Pepper 1967 11x Platinum
5) Led Zeppelin 1969 8x Platinum
6) Rubber Soul 1965 6x Platinum
7T Meet the Beatles 1964 5x Platinum
7T Revolver 1966 5x Platinum
7T The Monkees 1966 5x Platinum
7T More of the Monkees 1967 5x Platinum

Now for the 70s

1 The Wall 1979 23x Platinum
2 Zoso 1971 22x Platinum
3 Rumours 1977 20x Platinum
4 Boston 1976 17x Platinum
5T Hotel California 1976 16x Platinum
5T Physical Graffiti 1975 16x Platinum
7 Dark Side of the Moon 1973 15x Platinum
8 Bat Out of Hell 1977 14x Platinum
9 Houses of the Holy 1973 11x Platinum
10T Tapestry 1971 10x Platinum
10T Songs in the Key of Life 1976 10x Platinum
10T The Stranger 1977 10x Platinum
10T Van Halen 1978 10x Platinum

Also, when looking at the albums from the 60s - you'll notice that most of those albums were in the backend of the decade. I mean the music business had been around long before then - but what caused people to all of a sudden start buying albums around 1967 or so?

Interesting question. I have a couple guesses just to get the ball rolling:

1) Baby boomers were getting into their mid 20s and early 30s by 1970 and had more disposable income.

2) Something in the process - the record itself, or the turntable, or the speakers - became more affordable and/or more accessible to a larger audience. Sort of how smart phones or smart tvs used to be tech geek territory and now everyone has one.

 

[Cyclonepride]

Interesting question. I have a couple guesses just to get the ball rolling:

1) Baby boomers were getting into their mid 20s and early 30s by 1970 and had more disposable income.

2) Something in the process - the record itself, or the turntable, or the speakers - became more affordable and/or more accessible to a larger audience. Sort of how smart phones or smart tvs used to be tech geek territory and now everyone has one.

I'm not sure of the timetable, but the latter (accessibility of turntables) is likely the difference.

 

[Acylum]

It's probably the inverse of sales of singles (I think called 45s?) for the same time period. Why that occurred I wouldn't know.

 

[jbindm]

Here's another guess - The rise of FM radio, which gave the industry a broader platform to promote their artists. Someone feel free to correct me if I'm wrong (I wasn't around for the era), but wasn't FM broadcasting still a relatively new animal in the early 70s?

 

[MeanDean]

The music business changed from 45/single centric to Album centric in the late 60s. The idea of a concept album was not a thing until around Sgt Pepper in 1967.

And yes, more baby boomers were still listening to 'pop/rock' music into their 20's and 30's into the 70's. Before about 1965 as teens became adults they were expected to stop listening to teen-centric (read: Rock and roll) music and concentrate on marriage and family. Rock and roll was considered throwaway fluff of no consequence. Not serious music. Additionally they would as adults purchase fewer records - and those were to be more in the jazz/crooner/soundtrack variety.

 

[Sigmapolis]

Listen to the top albums of the 1950s and then of the 1970s.

I think it will be pretty obvious why.

 

[MeanDean]

Here's another guess - The rise of FM radio, which gave the industry a broader platform to promote their artists. Someone feel free to correct me if I'm wrong (I wasn't around for the era), but wasn't FM broadcasting still a relatively new animal in the early 70s?

FM radio was around but not common in vehicles. Only in home stereos and table top radios. It was the FM radio programming that changed in the late60's early 70's when Rock and Roll became more acceptable and a legitimate 'art form.' The alternative/FM radio station concept only reached Iowa in the early 70's For our area is was KIIK and it was still very single/hit centric. That was around 1972.

 

[jbindm]

FM radio was around but not common in vehicles. Only in home stereos and table top radios. It was the FM radio programming that changed in the late60's early 70's when Rock and Roll became more acceptable and a legitimate 'art form.' The alternative/FM radio station concept only reached Iowa in the early 70's For our area is was KIIK and it was still very single/hit centric. That was around 1972.

Good info. As soon as I saw this thread I thought it had @MeanDean written all over it.

 

[AntiSnob]

to partly answer my own question - I think a part of it is that maybe the album used to be an afterthought. I mean every classic rock fan has heard of Dark Side or Physical Graffiti and many of them have heard of more obscure albums like Brain Salad Surgery. Conversely, does Elvis or Frank Sinatra have any albums that everyone has heard of? I doubt it, there singles otoh are more well known

 

[BoxsterCy]

Here's another guess - The rise of FM radio, which gave the industry a broader platform to promote their artists. Someone feel free to correct me if I'm wrong (I wasn't around for the era), but wasn't FM broadcasting still a relatively new animal in the early 70s?

My 1972 Nova only had an AM radio, so yes.

 

[BoxsterCy]

Interesting question. I have a couple guesses just to get the ball rolling:

1) Baby boomers were getting into their mid 20s and early 30s by 1970 and had more disposable income.

2) Something in the process - the record itself, or the turntable, or the speakers - became more affordable and/or more accessible to a larger audience. Sort of how smart phones or smart tvs used to be tech geek territory and now everyone has one.

As a kid that hit campus in 1969 I can say I don't think disposable income had much to do with actual album purchasing. I had a few albums in HS but only had a portable stereo player. After I bought a better stereo/turntable speaker set I bought more albums. So I think it's more your #2 but also the albums being turned out in that period were crazy good. Some of the early 1960's stuff might have a song or two plus a bunch of junk (Beatles being a notable exception of course). So many later albums were things you would toss on and readily listen to the WHOLE album. So better sound instruments for you to play it on and better albums to play. Winning!

 

[MeanDean]

Also less of a factor was that music was more nationally driven. For instance in the UK the Beatles second album was "With the Beatles." In the US that music (mostly) was on an album called "Meet the Beatles" In Canada they got "Beatlemania With the Beatles." Other countries may or may not have packaged the product like the US version, the UK version or their own version. In other words, the individual labels in their own countries had domain over how product was packaged.

Now artists have much more (if not ultimate) say in how their output is marketed. And that product is much more universally homogeneous.

 

[KnappShack]

My 1972 Nova only had an AM radio, so yes.

My 73 Impala only had AM.

First check I earned I went out and bought a car stereo, lunch at McDonald's, and a Playboy.

Was pretty impressed with life back at 16 years old.

 

[ruxCYtable]

The music business changed from 45/single centric to Album centric in the late 60s. The idea of a concept album was not a thing until around Sgt Pepper in 1967.

And yes, more baby boomers were still listening to 'pop/rock' music into their 20's and 30's into the 70's. Before about 1965 as teens became adults they were expected to stop listening to teen-centric (read: Rock and roll) music and concentrate on marriage and family. Rock and roll was considered throwaway fluff of no consequence. Not serious music. Additionally they would as adults purchase fewer records - and those were to be more in the jazz/crooner/soundtrack variety.

This is your answer. Until the late 60s, albums weren't even really a thing. The Beatles were among the pioneers of the album concept: a grouping of songs following a similar theme or style. This is one of the reasons I get irritated when people say the Beatles were overrated. Their contributions to music extend beyond the music itself.

 

[c.y.c.l.o.n.e.s]

This is a good read if you have some time.

https://musicbusinessresearch.wordp...ssion-in-the-music-industry-a-cause-analysis/

Here is an excerpt.

What happened? The overall market for recorded music had become a market for long-play formats. This reflects a business strategy that was pursued mainly by the major record companies since the late 1960s. The single was turned into a test market for yet unknown, non-established artists. Only when the first and perhaps also the second single sold quite well, an album was brought forward for the music consumers because of its good price-performance ratio compared to the single. Especially with the established acts, single-sales played virtually no role anymore. The album had become – economically and artistically – state-of-the-art. However, the long play format – in spite of many concept albums – has the disadvantage that it contained only 1 to 3 tracks that were ultimately of interest for the buyer. The rest was considered dispensable filler. In addition, the industry stimulated the hit compilations market, which increased the flood of album productions further.

The shift from single- to long-play formats went hand in hand with a strategic reorientation, which had its roots in the second half of the 1960s: market segmentation. Previously, only 3-4 market segments existed, such as, for example, in the U.S. in the “white” pop charts, the “black” R & B charts, and perhaps the classical music segment. The labels and above all the majors had realized that they could increase the profits by a target group-specific supply policy. New market segments such as Country & Western, folk, and many types of rock music – Rock, Psychodelic Rock, Art Rock, Jazz Rock, Hard Rock, Heavy Metal etc – were established. This segmentation strategy certainly met a landscape of differentiated musical tastes, and music consumers welcomed this.

However, the segmentation strategy took on a life of its own in the 1970s. Carried on by indie labels, new innovative music genres such as punk, disco, HipHop/rap, and various forms of electronic music emerged. The market segments became smaller and smaller, and with them the profit margins shrank. What was originally conceived as a profit-maximizing instrument for the majors now worked against the inventor. The result has been already documented in declining sales figures in the late 1970s. The majors then embarked on a new strategy. The artist roster was severely reduced, and instead of serving all market segments, the majors were committed to the superstar principle. Thus, the 1980s were dominated by pop superstars like Michael Jackson, Prince, Madonna, Elton John, George Michael, Lionel Ritchie, Bruce Springsteen, etc. (see “The business modell ‘Michael Jackson'”)

 

[matclone]

This is your answer. Until the late 60s, albums weren't even really a thing. The Beatles were among the pioneers of the album concept: a grouping of songs following a similar theme or style. This is one of the reasons I get irritated when people say the Beatles were overrated. Their contributions to music extend beyond the music itself.

Agreed. The Beatles pretty much changed everything in popular music.

 

[matclone]

I don't have an overarching explanation for the increase in album sales, although marketing is always a candidate. But I have an anecdote.

Before I was old enough to appreciate and buy records in the late 60s (and bought plenty hence), we had one adult album in the house: Nat King Cole's Ramblin' Rose, and I'm not sure how we got that one. I never asked my parents, who both liked music, but I'm pretty sure they probably thought records were an extravagance.

 

[JP4CY]

No Rolling Stones in that list, also surprised that Frampton Comes Alive wasn’t on there.

 

[matclone]

No Rolling Stones in that list, also surprised that Frampton Comes Alive wasn’t on there.

That is a bit surprising.

https://www.superseventies.com/100bestsellingalbums.html