Hip hop sales are down. According to Nielsen
SoundScan, sales in the Rap category dropped 20.7%
compared with sales in 2005. That is the second
largest drop behind the New Age category, which fell
22.7%. Right behind in this dismal race is R&B with a
drop of 18.4%. Of course record sales are down across
the industry, but the average change is only -2.4% with
some genres, such as Classical, gaining as many
percentage points as Rap lost. Clearly hip hop, which
has been the darling of the record industry these last
few years, is in trouble.
But why are sales down? Countless articles, including a
recent high profile story from the AP, have said the
problems with hip hop stem solely from its content.
The above article among others argues that hip hop
lyrics too degrading towards women and the thug life
image is played out.
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