2014 - For the first time in the history of the industry...

http://music3point0.blogspot.com
 
No platinum album.
 
Zero. None. Aucun.

I don't think it's unexpected. 
 
Though it re-enforces the feeling that I may be part of a dying breed who values albums over singles, listeners that are usually more inclined sit down and listen to music. 
 
As a musician, especially when writing for someone else, I realize that I somehow became conscious of the tyrannic grip of the dumber and dumber market rules - get to the point and hook your listener within the first 10 seconds or you've lost them. 
 
No more intro, no more building up. We need a song that's Chorus-Chorus-Chorus-Alt Chorus-Chorus-Chorus.
 
Some artists undoubtedly filled albums with sub-standard material and got their platinum album on the sole merit of a hit single or two. But in many cases, the album provided an outlet for the artists to express themselves outside the constraints of the hit single paradigm.
 
As such, there are lots of records in my collection which I enjoy from A to Z w/ the exception of the hit single. 
 
Though it was unavoidable, it's sad to see that the age when market and artistic vision coincided a bit more - an age where people wanted albums like DSOTM, when popular music had evolved from the 3 chords cliché love song into things like Stairway to Heaven.
 
Remember when Uptown Girl by Billy Joel topped the charts? Man, there's enough music in there to make 20 songs by current standards... Back then, THAT was pop!

Rain
Further down in my newsfeed, there was an article about Iggy Pop not making a living with his music anymore and another where Paul Stanley was making a statement about piracy.
 
It was disheartening to see Stanley's own fans comment that he should just shut up, that he was rich and so on.
 
Not only people are stealing and rationalizing it to themselves, but they now go public about it and, adding insult to injury, tell the artist that they rob to just shut up.

The most flatheaded and idiotic excuse for neglecting artists' right to their work is just that: They're so rich!
But it's only the voice of the rich ones that arouses interest and makes it to the media. They talk also for the millions who make a penny now and another later.
 
99% of the artists who collect some kind of royalties from any source are far from rich. Most of them most likely  have to keep a "normal" day job to make ends meet, and the others live from hand to mouth and do need every single dime their art can bring.

bitflipper
Pretty soon the only ones who'll be able to make a living in music are those who can actually perform live in front of a paying audience. How retro! 

This is an excellent point, and it comes at a time in history when playing live in front of an audience is not the only way to make music. Kitaro in concert looks a lot like a guy on stage supervising his computers. Still the guy in the mouse head seems to be making it pay.