The L.A. Times recently published a great article on the resurgence of recognition of “catalog artists,” musicians thought dead and buried, interest spurred in part by the growing digital download market. The piece, by staff writer Alana Semuels, cites the “rediscovery” of such ‘50s icons as Fabian and Frankie Avalon by a generation whose grandparents doted on these early rockers. With sales of “deep catalog” albums (titles 3 years old and older) jumping 104% from 2005 to 2006, this supports my argument that “oldies are goodies,” and is a perfect example of writer Chris Anderson’s “Long Tail” theory in action.

Using Rhapsody as an example, Semuels points out that “Top 100” artists (Billboard charts?) represent only 25% of the service’s streams, while nearly 90% of Rhapsody’s 195,200 artists are played at least once a month. These same “Top 100” artists represent nearly half of brick & mortar sales. This fits in nicely within the parameters of the “Long Tail,” and as retailers continue to decrease the amount of shelf space that they dedicate to music (or go out of business altogether), music lovers are increasingly moving online to discover, preview and purchase the tunes they crave.

Contrary to the propaganda that streams constantly out of the ivory towers of the “Four Families” of the recording industry, digital downloads are a high-profit commodity that puts hundreds of millions of low-cost dollars into the label’s pockets. I have long submitted that a) people want to hear new music; b) they’re not finding much that satisfies them from current releases; and c) consumers don’t care whether a song dates from the ‘50s or the ‘90s – if they like it, they like it! With trend-mongering A&R departments fearing for their jobs, they have increasingly tread the safest path, signing milquetoast artists entirely on image rather than talent, depending on hype to fill the void.

With sales down around 20% year-to-date, this label strategy has obviously been rejected by the CD-buying public. So why not open the vaults and flood iTunes, Rhapsody, Napster and the others with thousands of digitized albums and thousands of long-forgotten songs. Savvy entrepreneurs are investing in the catalogs of obscure indie labels from the past with an eye towards profiting from digital sales. This is risky business, and there will be winners and losers.

Whether those of us who love music want to admit it (or not), music is a commodity and more is better – if the tunes are out there to be found, the odds are that somebody will find them. That’s good for those of us that listen to music; it’s good for the musicians, and, in the long run, good for the labels as well.