Among musicians, ?flat? is a word you don?t want to hear. But to the industry,?flat?is truly music to everyone's ears.
Soundscan?s sales year doesn?t end until Jan. 1, but current year-to-year comparisons have album sales for 2011 ahead of comparable 2010 business.
OK, it's only by a whisker of 1 percent. But it is welcome news in an industry where album sales for 2010 were down 13 percent from 2009. And prior to that they'd been down an average of 8 percent every year through the 2000s, suggesting an incredible shrinking music business.
This year reversed the trend, but there is a cloud buried in the silver lining: the success stories of 2011 will not be easy to replicate.
The year?s two biggest albums were Adele?s ?21? and Michael Buble?s ?Christmas? -- and even the most copycat-prone execs aren?t foolish enough to start looking for pleasingly plump Englishwomen or Sinatra-bred carolers to sign.
Regardless of how applicable the lessons might be, here?s our look back at what worked and what didn?t in 2011:
RETRO ROCKS ? IF YOU DON?T CALL IT RETRO
Artists from Adele to the Black Keys thrived by recalling good old days for oldsters while seeming utterly contemporary to kids who'd rebel at the word ?throwback.?
Also read: Review -- Adele Bares It All in Candor-Filled 'Live at Albert Hall'
At last tally, Adele's ?21? had sold 5,281,000; with two sales weeks yet to be reported, the blockbuster should finish out the year a little shy of 6 million. (The only release in the past few years to cross the 6 million mark was Taylor Swift?s ?Fearless.?) Moreover, she sold an additional 750,000 copies this year of her previous album, ?19.?
Adele is a singles artist, too. ?Rolling in the Deep? has sold 5,665,000 downloads, followed by ?Someone Like You? with 3,352,000, ?Set Fire to the Rain? with 963,000, and ?Rumour Has It? with 551,000.
Also read: Why Lady Gaga's 'Born This Way' May Save the Music Industry
On a smaller but louder end of the spectrum, the Black Keys put the lie to ?rock is dead? theories -- again -- by moving 426,000 copies this year of their two-year-old ?Brothers." Their brand new ??El Camino,? whose nostalgic aspects lean more toward glam-rock than neo-blues, has sold an impressive 293,000 units in two weeks.
BET ON THE RIGHT CAROLER
Everyone guessed there?d be a big Christmas album this year. Almost everyone guessed it?d be Justin Bieber?s. But Buble's sold 1,964,000 of his holiday CD, versus Bieber's 1,003,000.
We should have seen it coming, since Buble?s previous album quietly sold 2 million-plus. Despite his crooner image, Buble?s holiday set wisely had something for everyone, whereas Bieber?s had something to annoy just about everyone outside his core.
"Christmas" currently stands at No. 3 on the list of 2011?s bestsellers, and will surpass Lady Gaga to land at No.
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