No new physical CD/vinyl single in the UK!

[macawaca]

So it looks like even if U2 now release a new single (whatever that is these days!) in the UK/Ireland we won't even be able to get a hard copy anymore. Sad news for a collector like me, but just going the USA route I suppose.

BBC - Newsbeat - U2 and Arcade Fire's label ends CD and vinyl singles

Mercury, the label that's the UK home of U2, The Killers and Arcade Fire, has stopped releasing singles on CD and vinyl.

The label made a loss on singles in 2010 and said it would now only release them physically as "rare exceptions."

Physical singles now make up less than 1% of total weekly single sales, with digital downloads catching on hugely.

Meanwhile overall sales of individual tracks have risen from 66.9 million in 2006 to 161.8 million in 2010.

But the option to buy any song from an album on its own as a download means it's not just officially released singles that account for that rise.

X Factor Christmas singles buck the trend by selling lots of physical copies 'Not disappearing'

Despite the falling sales, certain releases, such as the X Factor Christmas single still sell large numbers of physical copies.

And Elton John's tribute to Princess Diana, Candle In The Wind 97 is still the UK's biggest ever selling single.

Overall though, vinyl sales have nose-dived.

The number of 7-inch records was down from more than a million in 2006, to just 152,000 in 2010, an 82% drop.

A Mercury spokeswoman said: "For the past couple of years we have released physical singles only when there is demand."

"Wth physical formats now accounting for just over 1% of the overall singles market we are being more cautious.

"That said, physical singles are not disappearing and we will still release them when there is a demand."

She added that The Wanted's Comic Relief single and a forthcoming 7-inch from UK rockers White Lies were exceptions to the plan.

 

[MooMoo!]

Wow, this has given me a sadface. :C As it does every time I go to get a single and its not in a physical format. I just dont buy single downloads.

 

[macawaca]

Me too, I hate downloads with a passion. So impersonal, and I hate paying for something I can't see or hold! Oh well.

 

[KUEFC09U2]

If U2 want a CD single U2 will get a CD single.

 

[Galeongirl]

^ Agreed. It says they would still have exceptions, so I reckon if the band insist on it, they'll still get their singles.

 

[nirniva]

As someone who still buys an occasional seven-inch, this is sad news.

Spoiler

Still, if U2 has a new single in the works, I'll be happy to buy it on vinyl, on iTunes, or on a freaking 8-track.

 

[Rachel D.]

Big deal. They stopped doing that in the US a long time ago, didn't they? No one wants to pay $9 for a CD with three songs on it. There's no point in it, especially if you can download it easily for free.

 

[nirniva]

Considering this morning's news, we should probably cut "physical CD/vinyl" and "in the UK" from the thread title.

 

[patternshirt170]

$9 for a CD single? I guess that's an import? we usually paid between, £1.79 - £3.99 in the UK for up to 4 tracks per release... The 1990s early 2000s were the CD single heyday; EPs, double CD single releases etal, fantastic period, the 5 AB singles for example..

However they've been steadily getting crap since around 1999 when the BPI began to fiddle aorund as to what an act could or couldn't put on their singles and the length and then there's the nonsense of seeing 2 track CD singles like Vertigo and ABOY with 8mins of music on technically speaking a 77min disc, won't miss them...

 

[MooMoo!]

When I found out the album Elevation wasnt the same as the single (this was some time after the single was out), I went round the bargain bins looking for it on a disc, cost me sodding £4.99

Worth it.

 

[Sanchez]

There won't be any single/album released on CD from U2 in a while anyway.

 

[DoctorGonzo]

Big deal. They stopped doing that in the US a long time ago, didn't they? No one wants to pay $9 for a CD with three songs on it. There's no point in it, especially if you can download it easily for free.

Yeah, U2 gave up on them around ATYCLB. I'm pretty sure the singles we got in the U.S. were Canadian imports. We all freaked-out at the time.

What's worse about paying $9 for a 3 track CD, is that the last really good U2 B-side was a decade ago ("Big Girls Are Best"). Since then, the band has been tacking-on a few remixes after the album track and calling it a day.

 

[morgan1098]

Big deal. They stopped doing that in the US a long time ago, didn't they? No one wants to pay $9 for a CD with three songs on it. There's no point in it, especially if you can download it easily for free.

The CD single market has been dying for a while, esp. in the USA. There were no domestic CD singles for ATYCLB or HTDAAB. But strangely, both "Magnificent" (10-track maxi single) and "IGCIIDGCT" (6-track maxi single) were released in the US, although with very little promotion.

 

[popacrobat]

yeah, I picked up both Magnificent and Crazy Tonight with ease here in the US. Newbury comics had both in a decent amount of stock when I bought them.

 

[doctorwho]

I love CD singles (and vinyl) too. However, I'm not surprised at this news. iTunes has allowed one to "cherry pick" songs off an album very easily. Why pay $5-10 for a CD full of remixes or b-sides one doesn't want? Pay $1 for the one song you do want and get the song in mere seconds!

If U2 can continue to release little tidbits, like the "Wide Awake in Europe", I think that would satisfy the collectors out there, while most of their songs will probably still do well on iTunes.

Speaking of iTunes... people say "Magnificent" would have been a poor first single from NLOTH. But guess which NLOTH song is the most downloaded? In fact, "Magnificent" was in the top 10 for U2 songs (U.S. only). Had "Magnificent" come first (instead of GOYB), results may have been different for that album.

 

[DoctorGonzo]

Magnificent would have been a terrible first single. While there are some good songs on NLOTH, there isn't much in the way of radio-friendly material. Endlessly rationalizing it isn't going to change the truth.

 

[canedge]

It would be great if they still released singles independently. Like a cottage industry.

 

[doctorwho]

Magnificent would have been a terrible first single. While there are some good songs on NLOTH, there isn't much in the way of radio-friendly material. Endlessly rationalizing it isn't going to change the truth.

I agree that NLOTH is light on singles. U2 have had this issue in the past (TUF, Zooropa). TUF worked because of the strength of "Pride". "Zooropa" worked due to the success of AB and the tour. NLOTH needed a "Pride" type of song as it didn't have an on-going tour to keep it going. GOYB proved not to be the hit song U2 hoped it would be.

Given that "Magnificent" is the most downloaded song from NLOTH on iTunes, it presents the possibility of what would have happened had "Magnificent" been the first single. The overall results for NLOTH may have still been the same. But if the song caught on just a bit, it could have helped NLOTH.

Regardless, the iTunes data suggest that this is the one song people download from NLOTH. Interpret as you will.

 

[lov12113]

I agree. Magnificent should have come first.

 

[Utoo]

Count me among the "Magnificent should have come first" crowd. All I have to say is that when I first listened to the album, lying on the bed in the dark with my Sennheisers on, I was rushed and astonished by the onslaught of NLOTH with it's forceful sound and what Bono was doing with his voice; absolutely giddy with what Magnificent promised the rest of the album had in store, thinking a second, mature Achtung was at hand; impressed at first by Bono's crazy voice at the start of MOS, then, as the only person on Interference who doesn't like the song, yawning by minute 3; inspired by the novelty of UC; already knew Boots; embarrassed by the rainbows and unicorns of the album version of Crazy and the hot mess of SUC; blown away by Fez/BB; and utterly blasé about the rest of the album.

In summary: While not perfect, as it lacks any change in momentum or emotional build/release, Magnificent is what had me at "hello." That is what a first single is supposed to do.

 

[Earnie Shavers]

Random bit on the state of CD singles in the UK -

Only one single in the top 40 midweek sales is
selling more than 2% on CD - The Wanted's
Gold Forever. With a whole 5%. (Only three tracks
register anything other than 100% digital sales).

- obviously long beyond the point of being worth it.

 

[U2FanPeter]

Will Achtung still get a vinyl reissue? Hopefull an analogue release rather than something closer to "cd on wax".

 

[nirniva]

Will Achtung still get a vinyl reissue? Hopefull an analogue release rather than something closer to "cd on wax".

Eh, I doubt this will affect U2 albums on vinyl. Singles are a different business. Besides, they've already done vinyl versions of every remastered album - they've kind of set a precedent.

Spoiler

If they don't do a vinyl version of AB, I am going to be pissed.