006: Vinyl vs. CD

It's no secret that interest in recorded music has been on the decline since the turn of the century - any of the major labels will be more than happy to point out their anemic album sales as proof of this. A more recent trend has been the talk of an emergence in records; you remember - those round things that spin and get read by a needle.

Though much press has been giving to this vinyl revival, the chart shows us that interest has not picked up substantially from even five years ago, and that vinyl searches are but a fraction of a fraction of those of compact discs:



These are trend lines that I'm sure will reverse spots someday. While vinyl has proven itself a lovable, save-worthy commodity, CDs have become disposable reminders of the 90s, along with MC Hammer, Dylan McKay and the Macarena.

The question is, how long will it take for the venerable record to pass the compact disc's substantial lead?

002: Indie vs. Emo

Moving onto more serious matters, let's take a look at indie vs. emo:



We find the two terms battling for search dominance throughout 2003 and into 2004. Then - just as bands like Fall Out Boy and Panic! At the Disco were beginning to make their oh-so-regrettable mark on the music world, indie doesn't just fall behind in the race, it keels over and dies.

Since 2005, emo has been rising the ranks of Google searches and not looking back, perhaps aided by MySpace and Hot Topic clearance sales. I highly suspect the trend line for Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas merchandise sales follows the emo line closely, but I'm currently too lazy to look.