Chart measurements and album sales

In Jamaica, compiling an authentic top 10 singles, albums or collaborations list is deemed virtually impossible, and there is no apparent effort to change that.

Internationally, the music industry has long upheld the Billboard charts as the bible. It is seen as the ultimate measuring tool of success. Before the awards season kicks off, pundits usually look back at those numbers to see who tallied highest, but there doesn’t exist such a measure on the local scene.

General manager of the Jamaica Association of Composers, Authors and Publishers (JACAP), Lydia Rose, confirmed that there is no local entity tracking album sales, while music consultant Clyde McKenzie toldThe Gleaner that historically, Jamaica was never an album country.

“Quite honestly, albums were for artistes who had some international prominence, who were signed to a label outside of Jamaica and perhaps wanted Grammy recognition,” he explained.

All the same, if indigenous music albums were produced and released with the same frequency and intensity as international players, artistes still would find themselves measured against the mainstream.

But what exactly is the measure?

As reported in The New York Times, American rapper A Boogie Wit A Hoodie’s new album,Hoodie SZN, was number one on the Billboard 200 chart in its third week of release. Out of the 83 million streams and 58,000 equivalent album units moved in the week ending January 10, only 823 were actual purchased copies ofHoodie SZN. The sales number represents a new low on the chart; it is the least number of copies that any album has sold in the week it went to number one.

What originally prevailed in the music industry was physical stores to support sales. McKenzie noted that such structure has dwindled, and physical record stores have given way to Internet consumerism. For album projects, the current sales market is the Internet community, and McKenzie pointed out that gaining access to a number of the platforms for local consumers is difficult, and as a result, artistes don’t get to register their numbers.

The consultant also suggested that part of the reason dancehall albums have not consistently entered the marketplace is that instead of grappling for sales, local artistes earn their revenue on stage and through the ‘riddim culture’.

Noting exemplary projects like VP Records’ Pepperseed and Joyride ‘riddims’, which have a collection of songs from various deejays, he noted that local artistes opted to release individual songs which subsequently find their way on compilations, instead of contending for international accolades through full-length albums.