2012 marked a bittersweet for US album sales, it has emerged today.
Falling by 4.4% despite contributions from Pink, Drake and Miguel, overall sales dipped in the market while sales of digital items enjoyed- making digital outlets responsible for 37.2% of all album sales.
Details below…
Rising by 5.1%, digital songs sales rose to 1.34 billion units with the help of Nicki Minaj‘s ‘Starships’ (3,979,000 units) and Rihanna’s ‘Diamonds’ (2,092,000) while sales of Adele‘s ‘21′ and Drake‘s ‘Take Care‘ helped digital album sales hit the 117 million mark. Impressive, considering the 93.1 million units moved by traditional outlets like Walmart and Target.
As is to be expected, Rock & Country were the only genres to enjoy sales boost in the album’s department, as R&B saw a decline of 9.6% with 50.1 million units sold in the year, as Gospel faced a decline of 3.4% bringing it to sales of 22.9 million units.
Unfortunately, very few of R&B’s digits were generated by releases launched this year with the likes of Lauryn Hill‘s ‘The Miseducation’ and Usher‘s ‘Confessions‘ responsible for ensuring the genre did not dip further than they already did.
As it stands, none of the major R&B LPs launched last year have surpassed sales of 500,000 units, with some yet to even hit the 100,000 unit mark.
Right now dance pop etc is dominating rnb and hiphop will enjoy a revival sooner or later
Yes. We all hope so !!!!!!!!
But at least Mary J. Blige has the best selling R&B LP of 2012. I guess legends can still slay
I didn’t want to say this, but blacks no longer support R&B music. When I turn on the radio, I only hear ratchet, stripper anthems. Whatever happened to the R&B audience, I don’t know!!! It’s sad…..very sad.
I agree with you somewhat but there’s also the fact that for a short time during the 90’s yts also supported SOME Black r&b artists by buying albums & going to shows (could’ve knocked me over with a feather when I saw a group of frat type yt boys @ a Mary J Blige concert).
Growing up I remember r&b artists celebrating when their albums went gold mainly because r&b was NEVER truly a mainstream genre so selling 500k was a big deal & still is IMO.
Stakes were raised when albums started selling multi-platinum and some but certainly not all r&b artists piqued the interest of mainstream buyers enough to gain support from that audience.
Unfortunately I think there is a LOT of racism from yt music buyers who only want r&b/soul influenced music from yt artists while older Blacks who may have $ to purchase entire physical cds, do not support young Black artists whose lyrics are as you stated “ratchet stripper anthems”.
I love the lyrics & production of most r&b songs so I continue to support artists like Anthony Hamilton, Eric Roberson, Jill Scott, Alicia Keys, Goapele, Maxwell, Sade, etc but I also just enjoy music so will also indulge in a ratchet track or two 😉
I totally agree w/ u, when AK’s album was released, people were more interested in judging her and her personal life instead of going to check out the album. The country musicbuyers on the other hand didn’t give a damn about Taylor’s life and supported her music.
It died when radio stations – BY THE MASSES -became “OTHER” OWNED! They changed the format and only a select cluster of R&B artists are played. In fact, when BILLBOARD reclassified the R&B/SOUL genre to R&B/HIP HOP that was the beginning of the END! R&B and HIP HOP are two completely different styles of music and should NEVER be combined on a permanent basis. It’s cool for acts to colaborate but to reclassify the genre to reflect it……smfh
Don’t be fooled by the black DJ, these stations are not owned by black folks! If you don’t own, expect to be dictated to and having the flow of information controlled by others!
Black people don’t have money if my mama go pay my 125 dollar phone bill the last thing I better do is get my music for free I don’t have time for this. But I’m go make sure I have my iTunes card for Beyonce new ablum B******.
ahuh.
NOOO!!!
Rock music has been dead since 1994. After Kurt Cobain died and Nirvana split up, when Pearl Jam and Soundgarden split also. THEY WERE THE LAST REAL HEAVY ROCK BANDS!!!
Coldplay, FUN etc… are NOT ROCK. I cant f****** stand Indie～Alternative music and everybody passes that of as Rock.
Where are this generations Guns n Roses, Queen, Led Zeppelin, Van Halen, AC-DC, Aerosmith, Alice in Chains, Boston, Journey, Whitesbake, Deep Purple, Def Leppard etc… REAL ROCK MUSIC. The only people keeping it alice are The Foo Fighters, MUSE, The Red Hit Chilli Peppers and Linkin Park and thats it!!!
As for RnB… Rhythm and Blues died in 1979 and Contemporary RnB died in 2004. If it wasnt for Adele last year and Amy Winehouse, this generation would have NO hope.
Not to Fret though because BEYONCE is getting ready to bring all of the Music Back!
I love your sarcasm
DEAD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! DAT SHADE IS BLINDING LOLOL
As for RnB… Rhythm and Blues died in 1979 and Contemporary RnB died in 2004. If it wasnt for Adele last year and Amy Winehouse, this generation would have NO hope.
Neither Adele nor Amy Winehouse are considered r&b artists – both are soul influenced POP artists.
Wait…….What? 0_O
Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, STP, Garbage, NIN, Alice in Chains, RHCP are all considered Alternative. Well, I don’t what the hell they are called today?
I agree with junjou. Well….rap is already dominating. It’s not selling as much as pop, but singles wise it’s doing the damn thing. Music moves in cycles. R&B was a maaajor force from around 1990-2005. It will bounce back sooner or later.
Because nobody released an album in 2012.
Brandy did. And that album is praised but let’s face it, only kids buy music, and kids aren’t interested in the old stars. They prefer the up and coming. Plus the rnb stars of today aren’t doing rnb, and those doing rnb like elle varner, aren’t popular enough to compete with the pop stars like rihanna and Adele. It’s up to the fans really
This is unfortunate I want my true R&B back and I agree with you @Savannah 100% that mess on the radio is…( .have nothing nice to say) lol! There are some pop music that is good for ex rihanna’s diamonds and brunos lock out of heaven and several others but I’ve always been a true R&B baby and forever will be sigh oh well :-/.
what rnb artists released albums last year? i can only think of brandy, usher, chris brown, frank ocean, miguel, trey songs, neyo and keyshia cole and all of them underperformed
Underperformed in what way?
Because all RnB artists have turned to pop – Usher, Nicki minaj, Ne-yo etc.
Rihanna is a consistent & REAL album seller for the black community. Numbers don’t lie!
Rihanna sales are Moderate 3mil /2mil isn’t much Rihanna Is a POP/DANCE artist so you expect her sales to be better her singles soars on the charts she hits #1 but her sales aren’t up there she will have 5 worldiwide smashed yet only pull in 3mil album sales
Um RIHANNA LOUD AND GGGB HAVE SOLD OVER 7 MILLION WORLDWIDE!! AND TTT HAS NOW SOLD 4 MILLION AND A GLM SOLD OVER 4 MILLION AND UNAPOLGETIC IS GONNA BE 5 MILLION SOLD WORLDWIDE IN A YEAR AT THE RATE HER ALBUM IS SELLING IT MIGHT BE MORE. UNAPOLGETIC IS ALMOST @ THE 2 MILLION MARK WW.
I hope @truth don’t bring his ass to this post but knowing his pressed soul. Afther he get done sucking his granddaddy d*** he will be here
Your dumb ass cant talk with your beyflop stanning ass_/
I agree with junjou. Well….rap is already dominating. It’s not selling as much as pop, but singles wise it’s doing the damn thing. Music moves in cycles. R&B was a maaajor force from around 1990-2005. It will bounce back sooner or later.
Reply
I know I didn’t type this one but thanks for the positive comment 😀
RnB suffered LMAO, that’s because black people are tired of hearing about man problems, cheating and baby momma drama… Oh and s**, so they would rather give a rapper who brags about money their money than some diva who sings about man trouble.
LOL true…..
Why is rap music doing so well?? A nobody like Kendrick Lamar can shift 200k+ first week whereas a somebody like Alicia Keys with endless promo can only shift 100K Lmao, FLOPnB is dead.
KL has a huge media backing! He is consistantly praised and promoted in the media so that’s not entirely true!
Well I didn’t leave that comment that’s under @HOP-SCOTCH Lol
RnB artists have themselves to blame, they haven’t brought anything new or different. The RnB of the 90s sounds exactly as the RnB of 2005 which also sounds exactly the same as the RnB of today, people are bored and they’re letting their wallet do the talking. Blame yourselves FLOPnB artists.
The R&B of the 90’s (New Jack Swing) sounds NOTHING like the R&B of 2004 (Crunk n’ B) and from 2000-2005 R&B DOMINATED music sales being the highest selling genre for several years in the US. In fact, in 2004, EVERY single artist to hit #1 on the Billboard 100 was either an R&B or hip hop artist. When the powers that be figured out that R&B had now become the new POP, they shut that down real quick, combining the R&B chart with hip hop to push a lot of R&B artists off the chart. So many R&B artists wanted to collaborate with hip hop artists and now the genre sounds like hip hop. Its interesting that the highest selling R&B artists last year like Mary J Blige and A Keys actually sound closer to either 90’s or TRADITIONAL R&B unlike Brandy and Ciara’s new efforts.
R&B music used to make you FEEL something! Man back in the 90s, there was an R&B song to match every mood! Now most R&B songs are about s**, popping bottles and heartbreak. There’s no variety, no creativity, no risk taking. Maaaan what! Mary J Blige, Toni, Brandy, Monica, Aaliyah, Mya, they all had something DIFFERENT to offer! Honestly, “Love & War,” and “Adorn” were the only R&B songs in recent memory that made me FEEL SOMETHING. The rest of this so called R&B is forgettable crap!
You better preach don’t make me whip out my Soul 4 Real single myyyyyyyyy loveeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
Why do people act so surprised that RnB took a dip? RnB is on its death bed
Rnb is not dead. The rnb stars of today are. Elle Varner is on the come up though. She’s proving people wrong with this rnb is dead s***. Have you hear her album??? Genres don’t die Hun, artists do..
Honey R&B is tired…. People like brandy Keyshia Kelly etc need to get with the times or get left behind
Black people need to stop bitching aswell YALL don’t support your fav Flop&B artist so don’t get mad when they go pop
Speak for yourself. I buy the music I want to live on. Elle varner gave me some good soul and rnb last year. beyonce did in 2011, brandy did too. The genre isn’t dead. The artists are. Listen to the less popular rnb artists.. Genres don’t die, artists do. There’s so much that hasn’t been done with rnb and any other genre. We just need the right artist to come along and craft it. But we have puppets that don’t even write their own music or sing with an rnb tone CLAIMING to be rnb.. and people depend on them to carry the genre. Lets pray elle veezy takes over where rihanna and alicia left off. And let’s hope beyonce goes hard this year. Brandy and keyshia need to keep doing their thing. It’s not about the sales, it’s about the quality. Once there’s fresh faces in the rnb charts producing QUALITY, not just baby making, man grieving music, rnb album sales will be back up
R&B artists go pop and still flop ask usher chris brown and neyo lmao. Usher barely went gold, Chris brown sold like 300k and neyo probably hasn’t even hit 100k yet. Has Alicia gone gold?
but ATLEAST they get a hit single outta it Chris Turn up the music & Don’t wake me up both hit the top 10 in the u.s.
Ne-Yo let me love you was also a top 10 hit so that’s better then nothing
#gurlbye
if yer gonna sell out for one Top 10 single you better make it the biggest f****** thing ever. These sell-out disposable pop fastfood hits from Miss Neyo, Ms Ursha, and Mrs. Fenty are forgettable you TRIED IT
@Jer but sweetie that’s better than having no hit at all…the radio keeps people relevant TBH…. if your song isn’t being played on a popular radio station your obviously irrelevant
And this^^^
@Jer,
#girlbye to you!
“Mrs Fenty”….LOL 🙂 Don’t mke me hurt you!
Chris Brown’s singles went platinum all over the globe (from Australia to Africa to the UK) so what are you talking about? He’s music is no more generic than Rihanna’s or Nicki Minaj’s. Have several seats at the kiddie table and keep quiet!
I wish you ppl would stop acting like the situation that surrounds Chris Brown is somehow normal and that he is given the same treatment as an Usher, Ne-Yo, Frank Ocean, Trey Songz etc. It’s simply not true. Every effort has been made to surpress his CD sells. This has not been the case for Usher, Ne-yo, Frank Ocean etc whom are all considered media darlings especially Frank and Justin Bieber’s “papa” Usher! So cut the crap!
That grape juice post on this Rita Ora drama
lol what she do girl??? spill that tea
I don’t think it is only the change of genre that made people buy less albums but the fact that the artists of today are the least talented of the bunch ever. Compare it to before people had the choice to buy music from talented people like Whitney, MJ, Mariah, Tina Turner, Shania Twain, Celine and so on who do we have now Nicky, Kesha, Katy and the likes. When you have people constantly singing about s**, darkness, bootys and weed people are not going to buy s***.
and if todays artists are the least talented i’m scurred to thnk what will come along 5-10 yrs from now. prob ppl so f****** awful they make katy and britney look like mj and mariah in comparison.
It’s the economy stupid.
I think R&B and rock will make a comeback within the next couple of years. I also think that electro-pop will gasp its last breath for a while by the end of this year. I think 2014 will be when the musical climate starts to make noticeable changes and those who can’t/won’t adapt will left by the wayside, and some of the artists who are hot right now will be considered flops and/or hasbeens.
The problem with R’n’B is that, as of late, it has become to Hip-Hop and Computerized-Production obsessed.
When R’n’B was known as Rhythm and Blues in the 1970’s, it was very Soul, Jazz, Funk, etc… influenced, not to mention that it involved REAL musical instruments with REAL dingers and REAL lyrics. In those days, R’n’B was respected by all demogrqphucs of people and was extremely potent and pivotal in its musical movement.
Then came along Disco and Electronic based music which birthed, what todqy is known as, CONTEMPORARY R’n’B. Rhythm and Blues may have true in an artistic sense but it wasnt a FUNDAMENTAL seller. All of a sudden, record companies realized this and after the Disco boom, which was very Pop and the main singers who sang Disco were Black, they saw that there was a way for Black artists to sell and this became known as CORPORATE BLACK MUSIC!!!
Michael Jackson, Prince, Janet Jackson and Whitney Houston were key figures in this. So, in a sense, you could say that they brought about the demise of Black music in favour of commercial credibility.
After the backlash of this in the late 1980s when Black music had become so POP heavy, New Jack Swing came into prominence which was a wqy of making Black music, well, Black again. But this has gone on for too long – R’n’B is too Hip Hop based today and the true soul quotient has gone from Black music.
Where are this generations TRUE Male wingers and artists: The Luther Vandross, The Marvin Gaye, The Teddy Pendergrass, The Donny Hathaway, The Johnny Marhis, The Otis Redeing etc… And im not talking about male singers who insist on overdoing their falsetto… like Usher, Frank Ocean etc…
But the reality is, as much as we hate to admit it, Black artists need the white audience to sell respectably as they are the MAJORITY. Sad case but TRUE. But thats why todays rnb isnt selling, the Pop aspect is not there and no one wants to buy it!!!
Plus inequality of wealth. Those that have more easy money, or casual cash or disposable income are those who prefer the rock genre, and pop. Think about the folks who by and large are into rnb where that’s their main musical preference.
Red spends a 7th nonconsecutive week at #1 on the Billboard 200 chart (241,000 copies | 3,107,000 total in the Usa. The album has now sold over 4 million worldwide in 10 weeks.
Tatlor swift No. 1 on the Digital Songs chart this week is Taylor Swift’s “I Knew You Were Trouble,” which returns to the top (up one slot) with 582,000 sold (up 163%). That is the fourth-largest sales week ever for a song, and the second-biggest for a tune that wasn’t in its debut frame
I knew you were trouble climbed to number 2 on the billboard hot 100 and is number 6 in the uk midweek charts. her album at 20.
Child we know the whitest white girl in America is selling b**** have a seat. Nobody but 12 year-old girls and future c*** suckers anonymous are having they rich so white they transparent mommys buy then Taylor Swift and One Direction by the gross. Taylor Swift can stay slaying with her basic Once Upon a time today was a fairytale romeo and juliet fisher price Bounty basic b*******. Have every seat in every stadium in every planet ho.
@JER
Wow, you’re really pressed ain’t you? and homophobic to go with it..
By the way wasnt your mum a c*** sucker? I bet she’s sucked loads of c***.. so what your saying your mom loves Taylor?
Thats it bring her race into it.. to try and take her feats away from her.
No go deal with it.
@TAYLOR SWIFTS NUMBER 1 FAN!!!
Congratulations to Taylor, she’s a huge album seller. 😉
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lpK-QXGZiIE
Child please there is no time for this foolishness. At least learn to read before you step into the public library.
#poordat
@Jer
YOU BETTER SLAY!….LOL 🙂 finally you said something I can agree with!
VERY WELL SAID!! 🙂
@Likica
Thanks for those kind words for Taylor 🙂
Am liking that cover of a Rihanna song:)
F*** TRAILER SWIFT!! THE LITTLE WHITE W**** IS WHITE AMERICAS SWEETHEART!!!
i don’t understand her success but good for her for bein able to sell albums in this day and age
Let me say this one more time, TRAILER Swift is being touted as the new American version of Adele. Minus the obvious talent and ability! The POWERS THAT BE who control the music-media industries, are pushing her above all others right now, that is why she has sold as much as she allegedly has!
Mob.. You seem to hate on Taylor at every chance you get… I can only guess that Taylor is a massive part of your life.
Who cares. Whites have always supported rock music more than r&b for decades. over 75% of rap albums are bought by white consumers also and rap is worse than r&b in my opinion. Whites r the ppl with the money and they splurge it however they want. These are not new facts just because r&b is dying. It doesnt mean r&b isnt good music tho. But u have ppl like Ne yo and trey songz and t pain making it sound more hiphop and pop and less soulful. Dancehall music is taking over mainstream right now cuz it’s considered trendy music. People will get tired of that too eventually. I could care less about the figures of rock and country. People like what they like and I will continue liking what I like also. I’m not a bandwagoner.
“Whites r the ppl with the money”
If this is the case, then how comes the birth rate in america is higher for black people then white people? Im not smart, but i know how expensive babies are to bring up.
If black people can afford to bring up more babies on average then white people, they must be able to buy a cd….
I
YOU SOUND DUMB AS F***!! TAKE YOUR TRAILER STANNING ASS SOMEWHERE ELSE C***
Bey fake.. I’ve seen your hateful comments everywhere… Bye
Don’t label Adele and Amy winehouse as r&b artists. I don’t know what they hell genre Adele is. Her music is some kinda depressing white woman pseudo soul pop but I do know Amy has always been a Jazz artist that got popular in mainstream. Neither are r&b. They dont even play their songs on r&b radios.
any yt singer wit a “soulful” voice is called r&b no matter the genre they ACTUALLY sing
Amy does have a strong old-school r&b influence.
I have to add, the rnb of today is not like that of old. The rnb of today I think, just my opinion, is TOO DANG DRY, TOO SUPERFICIAL & NOT AS GENUINELY SOULFUL LIKE THE CROONERS GENERATIONS B 4 as much as they try. Compare Alicia to Robertha or Gladys; compare Trey Songz to Teddy; or compare Al Green to anyone today. I mean rnb in the last century was mega in comparison to what u have today. When I hear some old rnb tracks and listen to those of today I swear I want to cry. I want to tell these rnb youngins in the business to give it up but rnb cant be allowed to die it just cant. Ah! there is hope! BRUNO MARS! Not only do u get some good singing from him but the DANCING! . . . . YEAH! UR S** TAKES ME PARADISE!! LYRICS!!!Ouch!
*crooners OF generations . . . *
Oh and there is more hope, MAXWELL is coming back soon!!! Yayyyyyyyy.
Thetruth: u know damn well nicki Minaj is not r&b
Oh and to ppl saying that r&b talks about love, s**, relationships, u might wanna interpret rock and country and pop lyrics cuz those definitely talk about subject matters like that. Sometimes it’s more metaphors in rock music tho. Pop talks about the same s*** too: love and relationships. So that’s not even a valid point. Adele is the highest seller of today and that’s all she talks about is her f****** heart being broken. Justin bieber’s tired ass be singing about girls he likes and he hasn’t even had an e******* yet. Oop.
” Justin bieber’s tired ass be singing about girls he likes and he hasn’t even had an e******* yet. ”
thats cuz he singing bout girls. if he was singing bout guys his d*** be harder than chinese algebra.
Beyonce is the only singer who can put back R&B on the map but she must release great music, I’m sure she can..
Please, Beyonce’s last CD was R&B and EVERYONE, EVEN SOME OF HER CORE FANS, were bittterly disappointed! She tried to do something differen and it backfired. This next CD will sound like a DIL-IASF mix I bet you!
Dance music is only dominating because people got sick and tired of the same ass TIRED R&B songs for a decade. Post The Emancipaiton of Mimi when every chick wanted their own “We Belong Together” it just got out of control. Not to mention Mary J. BLIGGEEEE’s amazing The Breakthru was a complete jack of TEOM grrrl. Every ho thought they were gonna serve Mariah comeback realness and they stayed flopping in their graves.
I have personally found myself completely ignoring R&B since 2007 with an occasional T of fire from someone like maybe Keyshia Cole or MAYBE a Kelly or BeYAWNce.
But I feel one of the major factors is the damn buffoonery of established artists pushing their albums back, releasing 3 or 4 ‘lead singles,’ and overall spending no time promoting their projects. This day and age yer lucky to get 2 performances of a single and MAYBE one decent week’s worth of promotion during the album release if it even gets released. The hunger is gone. R&B stars think they can just put their s*** out, go to 106&Park, do a late night performance, be on one magazine, go to an awards show and they’re done. They’re out. That’s it. I’m sick of it and I won’t be buying your s***! POW!
These pop ho’s are slaying the R&B singers with their constant in your face videos, performances, twitter BS, pictures, magazines, promotions, perfumes WHATEVER. Gaga and Katy Perry come to mind. Some people forget how hard Janet Jackson and Madonna and Mariah used to HUSTLE the industry back in the day. I mean you can look up SEVERAL televised performances of each of their singles. The hunger in the R&B world is gone. It’s gone. These ho’s are too comfortable. Brandy, Monica, Kelly Rowland, Mary J. Blige all you ho’s are just too comfortable. Yer eating too good yer no longer hungry. And yal are the ones that have the most to prove. I sure as hell don’t care what Brandy did 12 years ago with Never Say Never. And I sure as hell don’t care for the mess of albums Mary has released since The Breakthrough. WHAT HAVE YOU DONE FOR ME LATELY? Artistically, vocally. GRRRRRL R&B get it gotgether.gov yesterday.
Alicia did a damn good job promoting her album.
Ooo grrrrl but few and far between are here for her anymore. She might as well did nothing
You got tired of the POWERS THAT BE allowing only a handful of R&B artists to shine.
I remember when INDIA ARIE (the talented IA) was completely DISSED & DISMISSED by the Grammy’s a few years back. She and Alicia Keys (another talented artist) were nominated for several different awards but ALL WENT TO ALICIA! I enjoyed both women’s music equally that year but I do feel that HALF-WHITE Keys was given the advantage over the dark-skinned EQUALLY TALENTED Arie!
You made sense in your own way this time 🙂
Most of the rnb radio stations were bought up by whites corporation who turn them in to talk radio sports radio or TOP 40 . this causes RNB to get less airplay . now they have to compete with hip hop for the few spots leave on the few rnb stations.
MY ALBUM WAS THE BEST SELLING RAP ALBUM RELEASED IN 2012
*FLIPS WEAVE*
YOUR A POP ARTIST WHO MIMICK OTHER REAL FEMALE MCS!! YOUR NURSERY RHYMES ARE FOR F*** AND 13 YEAR OLDS
lmaooo you can say all you want
but im still at the top.
R & B is dead… And Hip Hop is next unless they get their s*** together. It’s a sad day when people spend hours/money looking for albums from the 80’s and 90’s just so they can listen to good music.
R&B is slowly dying because these artists are not having creativity in their songs. When you sing about the same stuff over and over again eventually you become boring and people will stop buying your albums but the other problems is the fact that R&B songs are very difficult for people to sing along, if you study all the hits of the past you will see that these songs had simple and very memorable melodies that make you sing along. They need to find writers who can create simple melodies but with powerful message, sometimes it is not necessasry to oversing in each of your songs leave the runs and the riffs and those vocal gymnastics for the other album songs and make sure that your single are catchy and simple for people to sing along.
But WHO are you listening to for your r&b fix? Do you seek out & give underground/indie artists a chance? Do you buy their music or support them when they perform in your city?
Or do you stay pressed about Ursher, Ne-Yo, Kelly Rowland, Beyonce, etc NOT doing true r&b? Those artists will never do straight up r&b anymore UNLESS it begins to sell big again with the mainstream audience. Ush & Ne-Yo have shown their r&b fans time & again that they are trying to cross over with TRYING being the operative word. Yt/mainstream audience IS NOT HERE for Ush or Ne-Yo unless they team up with Pit Bull.
I don’t know why so many people here are scared to state the obvious – yts are much more racist in their views of everything in life these days INCLUDING what tv shows & movies they watch and what music they buy & listen to which is why so many of them will listen to a whole Adele album about her broken heart & busted relationship but will NEVA EVA listen to a Keyshia Cole album on the same subject matter. Ya’ll act like this is chess when it’s really checkers.
Elle varner gave me some good soul and rnb last year. beyonce did in 2011, brandy did too. The genre isn’t dead. The artists are. Listen to the less popular rnb artists.. Genres don’t die, artists do. There’s so much that hasn’t been done with rnb and any other genre. We just need the right artist to come along and craft it. But we have puppets that don’t even write their own music or sing with an rnb tone CLAIMING to be rnb.. and people depend on them to carry the genre. Lets pray elle veezy takes over where rihanna and alicia left off. And let’s hope beyonce goes hard this year. Brandy and keyshia need to keep doing their thing. It’s not about the sales, it’s about the quality. Once there’s fresh faces in the rnb charts producing QUALITY, not just baby making, man grieving music, rnb album sales will be back up
rnb is dying because its no longer exciting. everyone is pretty much doing the same thing. and the true talents dont have a big backing from their labels since rnb is so risky now! i miss rnb i am sick of nikki, rick ross, 2 chains, drake and these rap singers like trey songz. i wanna hear some girly girl music that i can singalong too lol
WHAT IN THE HELL HAVE I BEEN TEELING YOU PEOPLE?
The POWERS THE BE who control the “MEDIA-MUSIC MONOPOLY” have already determined what will be the genres of choice – POP (mostly white), COUNTRY (99.9% white) & RAP (mostly gangster NOT the politically or socially conscious rappers). Now, why are ppl in SHOCK & AWE? 0_O
If an artists cannot fit into a POP- HYBRID or a straight POP category, the artists will not make it! The CD will not sell! You also have to couple that with being a MEDIA DARLING! ex: Pop-Country (TRAILER Swift), Pop-Rap (Flo Rida, Drakevelyn, Nicki Minaj), Pop-R&B (Usher), Pop-Soul (Adele), Pop (Justin Bieber & 1 Direction) etc.
We can blame the the artists and accuse them of not making HOT ASS MUSIC which is a damn lie. I personallly enjoyed a lot of R&B from Chris Brown to Brandy to Jill Scott. There is more going on here. There is a concerted effort to break R&B for whatever reason! R&B/Soul is truly the backbone of music. Eveything worth listening to starts with a soul telling story IMO! Just look at the success of Adele’s 21!
I think there is an effort to erase Black artists from R&B so that White artists chosen by TPTB can be the new face of R&B and be marketed as if they personally invented the genre. And because White artists are the ones singing R&B, more Whites will purchase R&B and make the genre almost as popular as it was in the 90s. TPTB just haven’t yet found the right puppets to shove down the public’s throats. But it will happen. Watch and see.
I hate to say it, but I think you are right on with this comment! It’s funny how all of a sudden EVERY R&B MALE artist sells within the same range no matter who they are – Usher, Ne-Yo, Chris, Trey Songz, Frank Ocean, Miguel etc. It’s just strange, as if someone is purposefully trying to surpress their numbers and keep them all in a particular range.
As wih JAZZ, I do see how others can be installed and the entire genre becmes somehing else. I never thought I would see the day when there was not a strong black presence in JAZZ! 0_o If you look at the state of RAP/HIP HOP who has been conistantly viewed as the KING OF RAP?….EMINEM! The next on deck for them is MAC MILLER. Eveytime I blink this nothing is being touted as the new next GREAT ala KING of RAP! Give it another few years once Eminem fianally retires, and they will be handing the reigns over to him. Watch and see.
Taylor swift number 1 fan: so just because ppl have babies when most of the times afican american girls in their teens are doing it by accident by not using contraceptives, they can afford it? Sometimes they have no choice. There’s a thing called poverty in the world. Stay in school. Bey fake: I’m not even gonna listen to ur dumbass. Keep it moving.
There is poverty in the world, but less so in america. I’m talking just about america birth rates.
Contraceptives are given out free in sexual health centres here in Britain. Maybe america needs to start doing that, if they aint already.
I very much doubt African girls are less clued up then white girls when it comes to s**, and contraceptives
B**** i told you to shut the f*** up. What am i gonna do with you? Do I have to reach thru the internet and drag you by your Elmers glue stringy blonde extentions? At this point yer just being rude cuz i’ve offered you a dozen seats and you just won’t sit.
jer.. some advice. grow up please
I think there are a lot of reasons why R&B has been on the decline. A lot of it has to do with what that younger audiences are being led to buy these days. Hip Hop has been dominating radio and TV( BET) for a long time now. Young people are growing up in a time where the R&B that was so successful back in the day no longer has a platform. There was a brief time back in the late 90’s and early 2000’s when contemporary and neo-soul artists had mainstream success. Artists like Erykah Badu, Jill Scott, Maxwell, India Arie, The Fugees, Lauryn Hill, Wyclef..etc.. but all of a sudden, all that music that sent positive messages to their audiences disappeared. Then we got bombarded with a new generation of Hip-Hop stars and R&B “Divas” who either talked sh*t about each other or showed how materialistic they were in their songs.
Each genre does have its season. There are a lot of genres that were very popular in the 90’s that are almost non-existent today. Genres like Jazz.. Remember Kenny G? Other genres like Grunge and Adult Contemporary and House Music. I know dance is supreme these days, but not the kind of dance that dominated the early and mid 90’s.
I think R&B might return one day, but there are major hurdles to overcome. One of the biggest hurdles is the fact that men don’t support female artists. That is a genre non-specific occurrence. But with R&B/Hip Hop, women don’t get support from men and barely get support from women.
Some of these R&B artist need to take note.. like Kelly Rowland.. She keeps trying to get an R&B fan base that just really isn’t there. If she turns her back on the worldwide audience that she was able to get with her dance music, I think her next album will probably just be another moderate success.
At the end of the day, people are gonna always have preferences but who cares about the genre if the song is good?? U ppl miss the big point and only care about who is slaying the charts. That’s corporate messin with ur head. There’s great songs that dont even make it on billboard that are just as good. The underground artists or indie artists just don’t have great labels backing them to get their music noticed and it all boils down to the fans supporting them. But If u only pay attention to top 40 ur mind stays narrow and miss out on opportunities to support great music that deserve a spot too in this chaotic money driven music industry. Think about that. I’m also glad there is YouTube that still have amateur talents and real musicians building their own fanbases.
Oh and BLACK FOLKS,
When you don’t own your own MEDIA, you have NO CONTROL OVER A DAMN THING so stop whinning. Folks are all for themselves and be damned with anyone else these days. Black ppl have given up control over the few media outlets they owned. BET once had value. It is now complete, “other” controlled nonsense! Black radio stations have been purchased whole sale. Video stations suchas VH1 Soul is now owned by RYAN SEACREST! <—I know I want to cry too! 🙁
When you are not in control of your music production, music outlets (radio and TV programs) other ppl dictate what you hear and what you see. They can tell black folks who they should like and who they should shun. They repeatedly denigrate certain blacks and constantly uphold those blacks they think they can use to get money from the black community! The tricks they use will always work until you wise up and fight back!
Ciara is QUEEN and will take the R&B/pop/dance world by STORM with One Woman Army!!!
R&B is on decline because ther are always phases. The 90´s weren´t that R&B oriented like some people are saying. The 90´s were very pop but also diverse. Rock, Pop, R&B, etc all did great numbers and you could find all types of exiting songs on teh radio. Nowadays radio only plays the same kind of music, so no exposure, no success. When the ting became “too much” was after 2000, more hip hop and rap than R&B though. There were some years with too much of those genres, The Billboard Hot 100 top10 was full of hip hop, I started to not care that much about music to be honest, and it become impossible for a simple op ballad to reach the top for example. So what happened? That era ended around 2008, cos people had too much of that. Pop and generic dance became the biggest force, especially after the huge debut of Lady Gaga. Radio is all about that now. I suppose it will end someday
I´m not even mad at that. My problem is that radio has become unbearable cos they only support that genre and nothing else. I wish it could be like in the 90´s. Adele was just a beautiful and impressive exception (in part cos people were a little bit tired of dance already)
And to the people saying R&B is declining cos R&B artist of today don´t make great music… please! Miguel album is so great, I suppose Bruno Mars is not R&B but it is so great and Alicia motherfucking Keys album is so GREAT. One of 2012´s best of any genre for damn sure
I dont know what 90s R&B you are listening to. The 90s is the golden age of the slow jam so get your life. R&B was very dance in the 80s much like it is now and evolved quickly into New jack seimg which i love. That died out about 92 and it was smooth beautiul midtempos ruling R&B til about 98 when Shekspere, Timbalnd, and Darkchild startes bringing more pop uptempos to te game.
And? where is the contradiction between what I said and what you say?
R&B Isn’t Dead .
When I Went To Buy KingBey’s ‘4’ , i Also Bought Ledisi’s ‘Piece’s Of Me’ .
Both Albums Were Stellar, And Should’ve Done Better Than They Did .
4 Should’ve Sold 2+ Million . In The U.S.
POM Should’ve Been ATLEAST Gold .
Elle Varner & Brandy’s Album Should Be Atleast Gold To .
I didn’t write that about Ciara up above. Nice try to whoever was using my usrname
If rnb is dead, so is every other genre except dance & country. When I listen to pop stations all i hear is dance music (techno, electro whateva you call it) and a few pop songs (1D, Justin bieber, Pink). I no longer hear hip-pop, punk, rock etc because crappy dance has taken over!!! It was exciting at first but now it’s just overdone!!!!
Christina and Alicia will snatch wigs in R &b
???????????????
Ratchet N Blackbutts needs a WHITE person who isn’t Adelephant or Xtra Large KFCtina singing it!
It’s because of the younger consumers and what they are exposed To …..
BROWN RI-LOCATES
Rihanna fans who weren’t thrilled that she patched things up with Chris Brown won’t like this at all: Sources tell Confidenti@l that Brown has “moved into” the $12 million Pacific Palisades mansion RiRi bought right before Christmas. The two have been inseparable lately, including a holiday rendezvous on the Ivory Coast, courtside dates to Lakers games and separate Twitter posts in which they’re wrapped in identical bedding. We’re even told that Brown gave Rihanna his $750,000 Lamborghini and went shopping for another one. Reps for Brown and Rihanna didn’t return calls for comment.
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/gossip/confidential/mag-staff-angry-karbashin-article-1.1232731?pgno=1#ixzz2H2RlxKtO
It’s Rock ‘n’ Roll Baby!.
MARY J BLIGE ALBUM SOLD OVER 600,000 LAST YEAR…AND SHE IN THE TOP 5 FOR BEST SELLING R&B ALBUM LAST YEAR.
go purchase ciara and tamar braxton new songs love n war sorry and got me good on itunes amazon great rnb songs …… 2013 is my girls ci ci tamar year two shine #one women army……….
Since Obama been in office EVERYTHING has been declining… 🙁
R&B is dead because nobody wants to hear that sad sh*t.
Honestly I think we need a fresh faced pretty girl who can sing to bring back R&B and not that sad why did my bf/gf leave me kinda R&B but something we can relate to and also groove to. All of the older artist such as Rihanna, Ne-yo, etc are all doing what is keeping them relavant and I don’t blame them.
^ um no @ nitti ebony these pop artist are singing the same tune of heart break and love only difference is that they us techno/dance tunes. Smh!
Leave that little confused child.. We know rnb is more than just heartbreak.