old-ish artists outselling new-ish artists

heisted wholesale from Marathonpacks, some retromania-supportive parsing of data from Amazon.com about its top selling albums of 2012:

• 7 artists released their first album in the 1960s: Bob Dylan (tribute album), Paul McCartney, Leonard Cohen, Dr. John, Jethro Tull (reissue), The Chieftains, Ringo Starr
• 6 artists released their first album in the 1970s: Bruce Springsteen, Lionel Richie, Bonnie Raitt, Van Halen (plus two repeats of Springsteen and Richie)
• 4 artists peaked in popularity and/or relevance in the 1980s or early 1990s: Madonna, Metallica, Wilson Phillips, Counting Crows
• 8 artists make music in styles popularized in the 1960s/early 1970s and earlier: Alabama Shakes, Norah Jones, Jack White, Lyle Lovett, Carolina Chocolate Drops, The Little Willies, Lana Del Rey, Rodrigo y Gabriela
• 4 artists perform music that is much older: Celtic Woman, Celtic Thunder, Chris Botti, and Il Volo
• 5 artists/releases were made famous via mass media (television or film): Fresh Beat Band, Carrie Underwood, the Hunger Games, Midnight in Paris, Joyful Noise soundtracks
• 3 releases are pop compilations: 2012 Grammy nominees, Kidz Bop, NOW 41
• 2 artists are Rascal Flatts, and Tim McGraw
• 9 artists are Gotye, Amaryllis, Jason Mraz, the David Crowder Band, One Direction, fun., Train, the Shins, and the Fray 
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• as repayment, a link to Eric Harvey's interview at Pitchfork with Jonathan Sterne about his MP3: the Meaning of A Format book - plus intw out-takes at Marathonpacks