Earlier this week, industry vet Tom Silverman shared an analysis of Nielson numbers shows the small number of artists that had broken through the 10,000 unit sales mark in the-post internet era. (List of artists here.) Now, Tunecore CEO Jeff Price, a long time critic of Nielson, has fired back attacking Silverman for using only "official" album sales numbers to measure success.
"The distressing part for me about this is based on Tommy's statements, if an artists' release is not counted by Neilsen than it is not actually released. If music does not sell as an album then it has not sold. In effect, he is de-legitimizing artists.
With all due respect, I believe an artist's release should "count" even if not recognized by Neilsen as this de-recognition closes off possible opportunities based on the perception that a release is not "real"
I also find it distressing that the media, and other outlets, turn to Neilsen as the definitive source to determine what is occurring in this industry thereby decreasing the opportunities for musicians and artists that are not part of this old school system.The reality is the majority of music is now being created, released and sold outside of the traditional system. Ad agencies, music supervisors, video game manufacturers, radio programmers etc turn to Neilsen for information to discover music in an attempt to use/license it. They need to understand that the Neilsen information is an incomplete and an inaccurate portrayal of reality. This inaccurate perception is holding back opportunity and validation for others. Tommy needs to stop propagating this false perception as it hurts artists."
– Tunecore's Jeff Price on "How people use Neilsen to hurt musicians".
More: Nielson's 12 Breakthough Indie Artists
