The [Y]ear in Music

Can you believe how much happened this year? It hurts to think about every little thing, so I'm going to talk about what mattered - the things that changed. Many of the changes taking place are due to the influence of teens and young adults coming of age as music listeners and creators. That's exciting.

It was a big, diverse and turbulent year for music - one where genres mashed into each other, industry models evolved, pop music became even more street savvy, indie music became even more mainstream, benefit concerts proliferated, and in the end, more people heard more music in more places by more artists than ever before.

Here are the big stories as I see them:

Industry Remix

It was a business model-shocking year. CD sales slumped, online sales expanded, while MySpace and a host of other next-gen devices and media channels spread music like wildfire, as the new generation of young consumers pushed the bounds of how they listen to, purchase and talk about music.

Newsletter readers: Come to Ypulse.com for the rest of Chet's "The [Y]ear in Music" post.

Selling It

Recent reports indicate CD Sales fell 10%in the U.S. in 2005; the second large sales decrease in the last five years. It seems like there is consensus that the CD is not going to bounce back.

So how are the labels responding to this problem? Well on one hand you have the whole Sony Rootkit fiasco. Tsk Tsk. And on the other hand, you have groundbreaking moves like Warner's "e-label" Cordless, a digital only "cluster album" label for up-and-coming artists. And for CD retailers, if it wasn't bad enough, 2005 saw Starbucks continue to grow as a niche force in retail sales. It's a weird mess.

Over here on the web, digital sales tripled over last year, with 14.1 million albums and 308 million single tracks downloaded legally. The online retail space for music saw iTunes continue to dominate, with Yahoo and Rhapsody still chipping away with the promising yet challenging paid service model. It will be extremely interesting to see how MTV and Microsoft's Urge (Chicago Tribune, reg. required) service will fair in 2006. I think it will do well.

Music Everywhere

This year Gen Y continued to send a big message to the industry: we want to find and listen to music anywhere and anytime. Real progress was made.

MySpace has over 44 million members (if you haven't joined the Ypulse group, go here. I've heard that there are well over 500,000 bands on MySpace. This was the banner year for the site as it was purchased by News Corp, saw its membership increase like crazy, and got a ton of publicity. And now there's a MySpace record label. It is now a social staple for teens and young adults, and music is right there at the heart of it.

Where else was there more music in 2005? How about Video iPods, podcasts, mobile phones, TV, satellite radio and video games. In all these categories, 2005 saw huge innovation and expansion. In the splintered world of pop culture, there are more and more channels for specific kinds of music to reach interested listeners. From the indie rock on "The O.C." to the huge identity-enhancing ringtone libraries. And even though it has had only mild success, the Motorola ROKR phone is a pretty cool new music device.

A Splintered Music Universe

This year, it became a lot easier for me to sit at my computer and read, listen and talk about anything related to music. That's good, because there is an overwhelming amount of music. The Internet and the host of devices mentioned above allow music fans to go deep into their music taste. To aid in the process, the music world is curated via MP3 blogs and taste maker sites like Pitchfork Media. The result is a democratisation for artists, as evidenced by the instant rise of Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - an unsigned band that became indie rock stars this year because of Internet buzz.

And as if there wasn't enough music, we're now taking existing music and mashing it up to create something new. Gen Y is coming of age as the first Post Modern generation, and anything goes, nothing is sacred, and it has to be new. Witness the rise this year of the remix record, the mix tape mashup (see Hollertronix), and mashup contests (see Ford Fusion Tegan and Sarah contest).

2005 saw an overwhelming amount of music come out representing every conceivable genre and sub-genre, and every shade in between. There is more than ever, and the community tools of Web 2.0 are helping young people find it and share it.

About The Music

Hip hop evolved, rock exploded, and everything in the mix was plucked from the past, and mashed together. It was the most diverse year of music in memory.

The top of the Billboard year end album charts looks like this: 50 Cent, Eminem, Green Day, Mariah Carey, Kelly Clarkson, Gwen Stefani, Destiny's Child. This could be expected, however what's notable is the presence of Green Day at number 3 - the biggest pop story, in my opinion.

Who was the best? Opinion leading music sites like Pitchfork, Prefix Mag and Tiny Mix Tapes all seemed to agree that the following artists put out the best albums: Wolf Parade, Sufjan Stevens, Kanye West, Animal Collective, Antony & The Johnstons, The New Pornographers, Deerhoof, Beanie Sigel and Akron/Family. I tend to agree. All these records were among the most relevant and well made of the year, and are certainly on my list.

You can round out the 2005 list of important artists with youth favourites Chris Brown, My Chemical Romance, Fallout Boy, H.Duff, Death Cab For Cutie, The Killers (again!). The list could go on…

Here are some special highlights:

Most critically acclaimed: Sufjan Stevens

His "Illinois" topped the MetaCritic list, as well as Pitchfork Media's list, and made the top ten of most that I've seen. It's no surprise. Sufjan's music is a brilliant blend of all things good these days including the gospel elements that are oh-so-hip right now. Sufjan caters primarily to the young adult crown, but his sound easily finds a home on my Dad's stereo. He will be bigger in 2006.

Best trend appropriation by a pop artist: Kelly Clarkson's Since U
Been Gone.

This song was the most brilliant move by a Pop artist this year, and has made Kelly Clarkson popular amongst people that hated her a year ago, including myself. The mean rock 'n roll-gone-pop is perfectly "right now." I still can't get enough of this song. It is still my ringtone.

Best proof that the Internet is very, very powerful: Clap Your
Hands Say Yeah

I saw them live in September and remember thinking that probably no one in their large audience had purchased the record (it was sold out) - they had read about it and downloaded it, just like me. They had an instant fan base because of Pitchfork.

Benefit Nation

Judging by the numbers, it was an off year for concerts: Billboard reports gross earnings were down 6.2% , with a 3.8% dip in attendance. Regardless of this, I'm pretty certain this was the biggest year yet for benefit concerts in like, forever. It was pretty much non-stop.

And with good reason — the support efforts for the Tsunami, Hurricane Katrina, as well as the massive Live 8 benefit were all good and noble causes. I'm thinking Gen Y will take note and keep this trend alive. They are good kids.

Probably the most youth oriented event was the "ReAct Now: Music and Relief" Hurricane Katrina telethon featuring Green Day, Nine-Inch-Nails, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Neil Young. It was broadcast on MTV, VH1 and CMT.

And there you have it, my take on what mattered in 2005.

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