On the record

JIM CARROLLon music

New sales figures reveal an industry in perilous shape

We knew things were bad in the record business, but this bad? Last weekend, the National Association of Recording Merchandisers (Narm) had its annual shindig in Chicago. Music retailers of every stripe schmoozed, supped and sang their hearts out to Cyndi Lauper, Taylor Swift and Melissa Etheridge.

But it wasn’t all fun and games. Over the weekend, Nielsen Soundscan, the company that collates US sales figures, gave what amounted to a state-of-the-nation address to the gathering.

According to Soundscan’s numbers, 98,000 albums were released in 2009, with only 2 per cent selling more than 5,000 copies. Yep, that’s right, most albums racked up fewer than 5,000 sales. There was also a sidebar that three-quarters of sales are still physical, but let’s concentrate on the marquee statistic.

While there is much headline focus on mainstream acts such as Lady Gaga, Susan Boyle and Justin Bieber, the bulk of album acts just aren’t getting off the block. It was always a given that the majority of acts signed to major labels never went into the black, but most of them could at least shift 5,000 copies, even on their very worst day.

Of course, there are caveats to all of this. There are, for instance, sales that are not counted by Soundscan (such as albums sold at gigs) and there are also many bands who can quite happily survive and thrive on 5,000 sales.

But such a low number means it’s high time for the record (and live) business to realise that there are problems aside from the net slippage in sales. After all, if acts can’t get over the 5,000 mark, where are the breakthrough acts and venue-fillers of tomorrow going to come from?

Villagers shine on the opening night of their tour

There are new chapters beginning every week in this story. A muggy Wednesday evening in Kilkenny, and Villagers are commencing a tour that will take them all the way up to the summer festivals.

Debut album Becoming a Jackalis out (it's the best-selling album in Ireland this week, in fact), the reviews are glowing and expectations are growing.

This is when Conor J O’Brien turns into Buzz Lightyear: to infinity and beyond.

To all intents and purposes, O'Brien is Villagers. He's the one who wrote the songs, cast the spells and marshals the magic. He does the talking in interviews, and it was his spine-tingling solo performance on Later With Jools Hollandthat has brought many people out to the Set Theatre on a school night.

But there’s more than just O’Brien on the stage tonight. It’s time for the band to resume their positions and remind folks of another side to Villagers. They’re here to colour in the lines in the songs and amplify the subtleties without losing any of the essence or charm.

They pull this trick off in the jagged atmospherics of Tommy McLaughlin's guitar, which add suspense to The Meaning of the Ritual, for instance, or in the beautiful layers that surround and embellish Homeand Pieces. It's a visceral, sublime experience.

But the limelight remains fixed on the wide-eyed O’Brien and those magnificent songs of his. He may blink a little with all that attention – he talks afterwards about a bad bout of first-night nerves – but there’s no mistaking a steely determination. Oh yes, this is his time to shine.

Villagers play Galway’s Róisín Dubh tonight and Dublin’s Button Factory on Sunday

New Music

JAMES BLAKE

There are currently a couple of record labels arm-wrestling for the right to release this London producer’s debut album. Listen to the lush electronic, dubby soul on his EPs for Hessle, Hemlock and RS and you might want to join in the chase.

Myspace.com/ jamesblakeproduction

SOLAR BEARS

From Dublin and Wicklow, John Kowalski and Rian Trench are currently applying the finishing touches to She Was Coloured In, their forthcoming debut album for Planet Mu. Children of the Timesis a lovely example of their pastoral electronica.

Myspace.com/solarbears

CLOUD CONTROL

The sumptuous melodies and delightful thrills of songs such as Gold Canaryand There's Nothing in the Waterare reasons to cheer this Australian band's debut album, Bliss Release. Indie gems a go-go from the Blue Mountains.

Myspace.com/cloudcontrol

Now playing: This week's top selections from the On The Record jukebox

VariousJamie XX mix for Colette (Download)

Wobbly dubstep, dark bass and deep electronic beats courtesy of Jamie Smith from The XX’s mix for Parisian boutique Colette.

Tame ImpalaSolitude Is Bliss (Modular)

Perth's Tame Impala tee things up for their Innerspeakerdebut with this smashing slice of sunny-side-up pop.

Mount KimbieCrooks Lovers (Hot Flush)

Sonic futurists Dominic Maker and Kai Campos deliver a debut album that exceeds the expectations of their brace of early EPs.

Sleigh BellsTreats (N.E.E.T) Filthy, freaky electro-rock with any amount of chippy, discordant bells and whistles from Derek Miller and Alexis Krauss. Cracking tunes too.

John Mayall The BluesbreakersBlues Breakers with Eric Clapton (Deram)

“I love the guitar playing on it – it’s an amazing sound. Listening to this really inspired me to write stuff I’d never have thought of playing before, says The Gaslight Anthem’s Brian Fallon, who selected this track.