I wonder if the geniuses of the recording industry have ever considered lowering CD prices to help stimulate sales. Works almost everywhere else...

If CD prices were in line with what most people thought they were worth, napster and its children might never have evolved.

If anything needed the tag today, this was it.

tansa: I wonder if the geniuses of the recording industry have ever considered lowering CD prices to help stimulate sales. Works almost everywhere else...

If CD prices were in line with what most people thought they were worth, napster and its children might never have evolved.

Can't do it. Too much overhead. Y'know, what with the obscene cost of bulk blanks... What's that? Top-end blanks cost $.25/ea for an end consumer? And even if they were shipping individual units via USPS 2 day air, you're still only talking half the sales price?

...because they don't promote any bands who's music is worth filling a whole CD?

A big reason why I stopped buying actual CD's is that I'd end up just getting a CD, ripping it, and stashing it away in an album somewhere. It got to be a real pain in the ass.

/actually buying more music now than I used to
//just picked up Nick Cave's last album, "Dig Lazarus Dig"
///god damn does it rule

I gave up on cd prices because the minute i left the new release aisle and tried to purchase some old, less-known album from the 80s i came across laughable prices like $27.99

No shiat! A few years ago I lived very close to a used music store and I could buy a CD for no more than five bucks and often for two. At two to five bucks I was willing to take a risk on an unknown artist and at the worst I could sell it back to the store for fifty cents. A twenty dollar CD is not something I'm willing to risk. Make it less than ten bucks and I'd consider trying it.

Physical album sales fell 20 percent to 362.6 million from 450.5 million, while digital album sales rose 32 percent to a record 65.8 million units.

Digital track sales, such as those conducted in Apple Inc.'s iTunes Music Store, were up 27 percent from last year, breaking the 1 billion mark for the first time at 1.07 billion.

The obvious question is 'well gee - why not shift the business model to take advantage of the obviously popular customer demand?'

The report continues a troubling trend for the recording industry, which has a harder time maintaining profits when consumers buy single songs instead of albums.

...and there's your answer. the industry executives don't make as much money off single track sales. Which, as we all know, is a bullshiat answer. But that's their reason. They still make money off online sales but it's not as much as they would with the sale of a physical CD. And why is that? Because they can put one or two good tracks on an otherwise crappy CD and force people to pay $20 for it. Not to mention that with physical sales of an actual material product, the industry can get away with price fixing schemes. Not so with digital downloads. all that stuff is tracked by the software. Right down to the last penny, it's all accounted for and everyone knows where all the money goes.

this makes something like the 6th year in a row of losses for the music industry. it's finally gotten SO BAD that RIAA can't afford to keep suing everything that moves. Cracks are starting to show in their defenses. Ladies and gentlemen - please continue what you've been doing. IT'S WORKING!

Every person who has bought music on CD (or cassette, or vinyl) has been pissed off at paying a ridiculous price for an album with maybe two or three good songs, while the rest is shiat.

Now the recording industry is pissed because we figured out a way to mess up their game and only pay for songs we actually want.

I can't feel bad for them. They price gouged us for decades. Now they need to figure out how to adjust to the new music consumer market. It might be as simple as producing better music and leaving out the crappy stuff they used to use to fill up an album.

This is for subby:

Epsilon: Every person who has bought music on CD (or cassette, or vinyl) has been pissed off at paying a ridiculous price for an album with maybe two or three good songs, while the rest is shiat.

Now the recording industry is pissed because we figured out a way to mess up their game and only pay for songs we actually want.

I can't feel bad for them. They price gouged us for decades. Now they need to figure out how to adjust to the new music consumer market. It might be as simple as producing better music and leaving out the crappy stuff they used to use to fill up an album.

The sad thing is, it's a refreshing thing to find an album with two or three good songs on it these days.

I still buy CDs, but not for $19.99 and not at Best Buy. I had two annoying experiences at BB and don't plan to go back.

Isn't that cute.

I remember when the switch from cassettes to CDs happened. I distinctly remember the $20+ amount of each CD being justified by saying it was a "new technology" and that prices would drop as this new technology developed.

Well, Recording Industry, you really missed that bus.

I have about 200 CDs. Haven't played them for years. I ripped them all onto my computer using the Windows.

Still buy cds...at least one a week. Iko's Music in York PA has the best prices for me. $7 used, $13 new.

Still like the artwork, liner notes etc.

I've never bought a CD. I doubt I ever will.

I haven't bought a new cd in about 5 years. Even then it was from the band themselves at a show, so I wasn't paying a store any money.

I've bought several albums online recently, but most of my music is used CD's. My best hit was when I stumbled upon a yard sale where a former DJ was selling his collection. $1 CD's, and I spent over $50.

CD's NUTZ?

still buying cd's here... most people seem to think that the 11-14 bucks that you can get CD's online for is overpriced.

I tend to think that a lower quality file that I can't do what I want with isn't even worth 5 cents per track... but, that's just me.

I'll switch over to the download game when lossless, or better yet completely uncompressed, DRM free songs are available, with higher quality artwork.

I'm not holding my breath.

Got an ad in the mail saying a new Barnes and Noble opened up and it came with a 20% off sticker that you could put on any book, cd, or DVD. I went there, didn't see any books I wanted, so I went to the music and movie section. A cd from 1993 should not cost $17.99 and a single bare bones DVD from 2000 should not cost $19.99. Just for kicks I went to the Blu-ray mini-aisle they had, everything was $35.00 and up.

HappyHarryHardOn: I gave up on cd prices because the minute i left the new release aisle and tried to purchase some old, less-known album from the 80s i came across laughable prices like $27.99 for something I've already bought 3 or 4 times in various formats.

This, with the addition.

Who is paying $20 for a single, non-import cd anymore?

Winktologist: ...because they don't promote any bands who's music is worth filling a whole CD?

Voila!

a) new releases at Best Buy are usually $7.99-$9.99
b) non-new releases on Amazon are nearly as cheap
c) if you're buying albums with only 2 or 3 good songs, you're buying the wrong albums

I started buying just as albums were going out for CD. I kind of like owning the cover.

I buy CDs sometimes. Most recent I got Manic Street Preachers Send away the tigers, Black Heart Progression, and I like this band from Korea called Loveholic. This Christmas I bought the CD box set of Peter Gabriel era Genesis and enjoy it a lot. Just downloading things is kind of...well, boring. It may go that way, but there's just something lacking about that attitude. I agree the music industry is out of touch and being greedy. Its killed many businesses being so shortsighted. However if you don't support the musicians, just what will we get?

I can usually find CDs for $12 or $10, so I don;t get this $20 or more stuff at Best Buy. I will spend for rare music though, but basic stuff...try being a better shopper.

xxbrankxx: Got an ad in the mail saying a new Barnes and Noble opened up and it came with a 20% off sticker that you could put on any book, cd, or DVD. I went there, didn't see any books I wanted, so I went to the music and movie section. A cd from 1993 should not cost $17.99 and a single bare bones DVD from 2000 should not cost $19.99. Just for kicks I went to the Blu-ray mini-aisle they had, everything was $35.00 and up.

Yeah, Barnes and Noble is really horrible with their prices for movies. Anything you can get there you can get for ten bucks less at Best Buy, and even cheaper on Amazon.com

/does like to browse the books

Derwood:
c) if you're buying albums with only 2 or 3 good songs, you're buying the wrong albums

Word. I don't know what albums people are buying that only have 2 or 3 good songs on them.

Does no one believe in sampling albums on Amazon or Last FM before buying them?

Besides, get some better artists.



Is looking at you.

Bondidude: Derwood:
c) if you're buying albums with only 2 or 3 good songs, you're buying the wrong albums

Word. I don't know what albums people are buying that only have 2 or 3 good songs on them.

Nickelback.

/"good" being relative in that sense.

Derwood: c) if you're buying albums with only 2 or 3 good songs, you're buying the wrong albums

Yeah, this. The CD single was a travesty and the fact that they didn't really bother trying to make any more of them in the mid to late 90s was just setting themselves up for defeat. But seriously, don't invest in novelty acts and you won't get burned with the "OMFG, Laffy Taffy is the only good track on this CD! >:("

Though as far as Amazon goes, even if it's $10 - 12, generally shipping will bring it up to more than $15 or so. Unless you get free shipping after paying more than $25, but their free shipping policy is a pain in the ass.

And even though I like the artwork that comes with CDs, I must say, it's not something I really look at a lot after the first day of purchase. Tool's 10,000 Days had great artwork, but I didn't really look at it after the first day or so.

I finally trashed all my CD cases and put the CDs into binders. I'm currently a fan of Amazon's service, though my last two albums had skips on a track. I consider $10 to be a fair price for most any album and it spares me some space.

I'm a big fan of media. I like having CDs, I like having DVDs. I'm not a big fan of having to have a back up of a back up of a back up for music I paid for digitally. I keep all of my CDs ripped on my computer, so they hold up well enough and don't get scratched up or the like.

That and if my apartment caught on fire it's much easier to claim for my insurance compared to "Well I had downloaded 400 albums off of iTunes for $10 a pop..."

/feel the same way about movies

Bought 10 CDs yesterday for about $42. The quasi-local music store here in MD, Record & Tape Traders, runs a Buy 1 Get 1 Free deal on Used CDs on New Year's Day. That's when I buy most of the older stuff that I don't feel like paying $15 for.

xxbrankxx: Got an ad in the mail saying a new Barnes and Noble opened up and it came with a 20% off sticker that you could put on any book, cd, or DVD. I went there, didn't see any books I wanted, so I went to the music and movie section. A cd from 1993 should not cost $17.99 and a single bare bones DVD from 2000 should not cost $19.99. Just for kicks I went to the Blu-ray mini-aisle they had, everything was $35.00 and up.

Yeah, but you can save money by spending money to be in their club. Screw that noise.

I am still a music buyer. I sometimes like going to used music stores, but usually you get someone's rejects and leftovers. The whole $18 for an old album is total BS, especially when it clocks in at about 30 minutes like albums did then. It's nearly impossible to find anyone's back catalogue anymore, and that's what Barnes and Noble usually has quite a selection of, so maybe that's why the prices are so high. I can wait and buy it cheaper online.

I used to buy so many cds, but now I just buy singles and a few albums here and there, but all digitally. I have not purchased a tangible cd for about 3 years. Kind of sad, I love the art and the collection, but the simplicity of music at my fingertips must out weigh that.

My younger self would prolly kick my ass for not buying complete albums. Evs


I have bought more vinyl than cds in the last couple years.

I buy CD's occasionally, but it has to be something special. I usually buy the Vaulternative releases from Zappa.com because they are something kind of special. They are things that have been in the FZ vaults and are coming out for the first time. They are kind of limited edition so they cost a little more, but I don't mind too much. The packaging is usually pretty nice as well.

Derwood: c) if you're buying albums with only 2 or 3 good songs, you're buying the wrong albums

This. Do a little research, folks.

I still buy CDs. I like owning the actual physical disc, and the sound quality is still better than compressed audio files. I also like having access to the cover artwork and liner notes.

But I do agree that CDs need to go down in price. There have been times when I've seen a movie soundtrack selling for $20 when the actual movie itself can be purchased on DVD for only $15. There's something that's just not right about that.

Here in Japan things are very different. CDs are still a big business because downloading illegally never took off like it did in the US. Winny users get arrested and sent to jail and there aren't very many leaks at all compared to the US. I was having a conversation with my boss (I'm interning at a label and he's one of their big A&R guys) and he did not have any idea what Napster was before it became a pay service. None.

New CDs, and I'm talking full albums here tend to be expensive ($20-30, lately closer to $30 because of the exchange rates). However, there's also a huge secondhand market and even a decently large rental market (yes, you can rent movies, you can rent music, but you can't really rent videogames oddly enough).

I downloaded a ton of music in the US, but in Japan I buy a *lot* because...

1) A lot of the bands I'm into aren't on iTunes (nor do I want to pay the 150-300 yen per track that iTunes Japan asks... nor can I get an iTSJ account because I don't have a Japanese credit card, for that matter)

2) I'm able to see the bands I like in concert frequently because in a country the size of California, the same band is going to stop by the big city a lot. It doesn't hurt that Tokyo's live scene rivals Austin, NYC, or London. In any case it builds brand loyalty. Back in the US it was hard to stay up to date on bands that would only stop by Philadelphia once, maybe twice a year if that.

3) I'm currently doing studio work (tutoring a melopunk vocalist on his English) and that shiat is hard, so I ultimately have more respect for musicians as a result as cliched as that is. Getting my photos on some album covers hasn't hurt that perspective either.

4) Smart retailing. Tower Records has a really good point card system (you get X% of points back on your card that you can use in the future) and if you shop during their double-point sales you can end up getting 10-20% back. The chains also do stuff like giveaway chotchkes or bonus CDs/DVDs with new releases.


So essentially Japan's won where the RIAA has lost by nipping piracy in the bud before it got to be huge, but at the same time it's slow to embrace digital technology fully; many CDs in the early 00s had anti-copying protection (that's stopped, thank god), plus the mechanisms required to copy music onto your cellphone (which a lot of Japanese will use as a primary audio player) are cumbersome and a pain in the ass. So they're not losing as badly as the RIAA is, but they better start dropping prices soon and opening up to DRM-free technology or that will change very quickly.

We're all music freaks in my house, and Christmas used to be all about music. This year, the only music under the tree was an out-of-print cassette I bought off ebay for my daughter. No CDs, no iTunes giftcards. Why? Because we get all of our music like this:

We hear something we like from a music blog or Internet radio station.

We buy DRM-free tracks from lala (love it because we can hear the entire song instead of a 30-second sample, and can queue up the entire album for review) or Amazon.

We share with each other.

When the record companies realize that this is how music will be consumed, they'll change their model.

Chaosandcomedy: Does no one believe in sampling albums on Amazon or Last FM before buying them?

Besides, get some better artists.

Francis the Mute is one of the best albums ever. I could do without the first 5 minutes or so of Miranda part A (and maybe The Widow), but it's still a great album.

Library Card = Legal + Free music

Seriously, I've added at least 30 albums to my hard drive in the past 4 months using the local library. You can even request albums from other branches.

since when does best buy charge 20 dollars for a cd? They usually go for 10, maybe 12

fail

Derwood: Library Card = Legal + Free music

Seriously, I've added at least 30 albums to my hard drive in the past 4 months using the local library. You can even request albums from other branches.

Ripping CD borrowed from Library = Illegal
(but much harder to track you down)

went to best buy to get some cds...bought two cds total came out to under 16 bucks..19.99 for a cd nice try but fail..if you don't buy albums because you like screwing the industry over hey that's fine by me..but if you think 9.99 for a new cd is expensive...i guess you should get a better job

Well I hit the used cd stores.Also the artists websites so I know the money is theirs.At least with the musicians I like.
By the way,whatever happened to SACD and DVD-Audio?To overpriced or....?

I'm all for buying stuff from people that make it. I buy CDs, rip them immediately (LAME does good enough for my jet-engine damaged ears), and keep the physical media, just in case.

Give me a CD quality download and I'll listen. Until then the CD is still the best way to get high quality music for me.

Hau Ruck: Chaosandcomedy: Does no one believe in sampling albums on Amazon or Last FM before buying them?

Besides, get some better artists.

Francis the Mute is one of the best albums ever. I could do without the first 5 minutes or so of Miranda part A (and maybe The Widow), but it's still a great album.

Francis the Mute and Deloused have got to be 2 of my all-time favorite albums. And I heard of them from my friend who sent Telavators over AIM. I then downloaded both albums, and found when they were playing near me. I went to the show and bought the actual album then.

This same thing has happened many time to me now. I hear the music, download the music, and then if I like it I go to a show and buy the music. If I don't like it when I hear it, I delete the album from my hard drive.

I pay for my music. At least the music I listen to, and that's the same situation that iTunes users are in.

tansa: Derwood: Library Card = Legal + Free music

Seriously, I've added at least 30 albums to my hard drive in the past 4 months using the local library. You can even request albums from other branches.

Ripping CD borrowed from Library = Illegal
(but much harder to track you down)

i'm sure the FBI has my library transactions on file somewhere

Epsilon: Every person who has bought music on CD (or cassette, or vinyl) has been pissed off at paying a ridiculous price for an album with maybe two or three good songs, while the rest is shiat.

Now the recording industry is pissed because we figured out a way to mess up their game and only pay for songs we actually want.

I can't feel bad for them. They price gouged us for decades. Now they need to figure out how to adjust to the new music consumer market. It might be as simple as producing better music and leaving out the crappy stuff they used to use to fill up an album.

Bought 5 "albums" on Christmas Day from iTunes. I already "owned" all 5 of them and had to repurchase them because they were all unplayable.

I'll torrent anything I have already purchased and not feel the slightest bit guilty about it. I can't always find what I'm looking for though.