Hey guess what? Not a single movie soundtrack broke the one million copy sales mark in 2007. Hairspray (the musical, not the real one) came close with 803,000 copies, but that was a couple million fewer than the best selling soundtrack of 2006—the dreaded High School Musical. Above and beyond the alleged decline in music sales overall, some are speculating that selling soundtracks as products separate from the film is an endangered practice. It's just too easy to buy single songs in iTunes now. In a recent Hollywood Reporter piece, Kathy Nelson, Universal's head of film-music, said that this has especially serious implications for VA soundtracks and even went so far as to say that the era of "just throwing a bunch of songs in a movie or a soundtrack is over."
"That stopped happening because music is expensive and our budgets are being challenged, and you have to be more resourceful. When a Van Halen asks for a million dollars for a song in the movie, you move on."
It's true that soundtracks aren't selling as well as they did ten years ago. Back then, the average Amazon sales rank for a top ten soundtrack was 1,245. Now it's about 3,909. But let's not stick a fork in soundtracks just yet. That newer sales slot is still better than about 99 percent of all album releases. And VA soundtracks in particular still have great potential to do well in today's market.
The Juno soundtrack is a perfect case-in-point. Whether you like the twee vibe of this soundtrack or not, it's worth nothing that it went gold in less than a month and it's Rhino Records' first-ever Billboard top ten in their 30 year history as a label. Here are five reasons why it's doing so well:
Reason #1: Savvier marketing. Filmmakers and their labels have figured out that they should stop selling individual tracks off of VA soundtracks. In 1995 the Pulp Fiction soundtrack was made
available for sale as single tracks in iTunes, but in 2007 Grindhouse was made available only as a full album. The VA Juno soundtrack employed a mixed strategy with six tracks available as singles and the other 70 percent available as "album only." Many other 2007 soundtracks used the same strategy: Superbad, Darjeeling Limited, Hot Fuzz, Children of Men. What's interesting is that every single one of the Juno tracks is readily available as a single on other albums, but it doesn't seem to matter for soundtrack sales.
Reason #2: It's a VA soundtrack, not score. Various Artists soundtracks sell better than score. Of the 15 best-selling soundtracks of all time, VA soundtracks sold 106 million copies. Scores and musicals combined in this category account for only 34 million copies. This isn't complicated. You may think that Jonny Greenwood's score to There Will Be Blood is amazing, but is it really what you want to listen to while you clean out the garage?
Reason #3: A curatorial approach. Universal's Kathy Nelson complains that Van Halen is too expensive to license. In that same piece, Fox Music president Robert Kraft lamented that he couldn't find a label to back a soundtrack featuring Prince, Aretha Franklin, and Michael Jackson. No wonder these people can't sell albums! They're stuck in the 80's. The Juno soundtrack is a good example of a music supervisor acting in a curatorial role and venturing beyond the re-heated hit parades of yore. Blades of Glory might have reminded me of my odd fondness for Billy Squier's song, "The Stroke," but am I going to buy the soundtrack to get it? Nope. I'd probably just grab the single. On the other hand, if the soundtrack really creates a specific mood through a tightly edited assortment of artists that I don't know as well, I'm much more likely to buy the whole thing on the spot. Lesson for directors? Don't use obvious music unless it truly supports the story and feeling of your films, and maybe not even then.
Reason #4: Juno is a coming of age story. Pure and
simple: soundtracks tend to figure more prominently coming of age
stories, and they sell better as a result. The younger market to which
they appeal is also more reliable for music sales.
Reason #5: The long tail. In 1995 there were 308 films that had theater releases. By 2005 that number had doubled (source: the-numbers.com). As a result of the much larger and more diverse film market, major studios have lost about ten percent market share in the last ten years. Since they're the ones accustomed to making money off of soundtracks, they're the ones complaining now. But you won't hear any complaints over at Mandate Pictures or Rhino Records. The Juno soundtrack is burning up the charts. In this sense there may be an analogue to the music industry. Despite widespread reports of decreased sales from the major labels, most smaller/indie labels have actually been reporting increasing sales in the last five years.
If 2007 is any indication, the VA soundtrack release isn't going anywhere. A full 42 percent of the top 100 grossing films had various artists soundtracks. Over 95 percent of those films put out a commercial soundtrack release. We'll keep an eye on this figure in the coming years to be sure, but with both digital-only releases and true on-demand CD production becoming a reality, small production companies and labels are actually poised to do very well with soundtrack sales. Seems the era of "just throwing a bunch of songs in a movie or a soundtrack" isn't over after all. Viva la VA.
I saw this movie. I really loved this soundtrack. I bought it the next day on itunes AND I got to deselect all the songs I already own.
YAY Juno!
Posted by: teradackly | February 15, 2008 at 01:05 PM