Cd "enhancements"

[Daybreaker]

I know that most people here on this board are like me and are cd junkies. But me and one of my friends were discussing cd's and their future not too long ago. I keep hearing that theres some major labels out there that want to do away with the cd format completely and only go digital in an attempt to combat downloading. Needless to say, both my friend and I disagree on this and say that the only way to increase the sales is to provide improvements on the actual tangible object. I myself, I despise mp3s. All they are to me are meaningless files and I have less than twenty on my computer. I use them as a way to get into a band, if my interest is piqued then I order the actual cd. Even when I downloaded whole albums, I would listen to them maybe twice but when I actually GOT the cd, it wouldnt leave my player. Nothing beats that feeling of dropping a brand new disc into the player and hearing new music for the first time. I love opening the booklet, looking at the pictures, the art, reading the thanks, all of that good stuff.

I've noticed lately though that many labels and bands are giving you a little extra bang for your buck so to speak with packaging, videos etc. My question to you is, what's your favorite "freebie?" Say, great artwork, digi-book / digipak, videos, multimedia files, liner notes, etc. Bonus tracks dont count.

Personally, I love liner notes. David Defeis' liner notes in the Noble Savage, Age of Consent and Invictus albums are a great read, I just loved the time and care he put in those. Also on Evergrey's LTD edits of Recreation Day and Inner Circle, I enjoyed those as well. BTW I hate digibooks. Those sleeves just suck outright and its a chore to get the cd out of without scratching. Whoever thought they were a good idea is a dumb ass.

Ben

 

[tine984]

I know that most people here on this board are like me and are cd junkies. But me and one of my friends were discussing cd's and their future not too long ago. I keep hearing that theres some major labels out there that want to do away with the cd format completely and only go digital in an attempt to combat downloading. Needless to say, both my friend and I disagree on this and say that the only way to increase the sales is to provide improvements on the actual tangible object. I myself, I despise mp3s. All they are to me are meaningless files and I have less than twenty on my computer. I use them as a way to get into a band, if my interest is piqued then I order the actual cd. Even when I downloaded whole albums, I would listen to them maybe twice but when I actually GOT the cd, it wouldnt leave my player. Nothing beats that feeling of dropping a brand new disc into the player and hearing new music for the first time. I love opening the booklet, looking at the pictures, the art, reading the thanks, all of that good stuff.

I've noticed lately though that many labels and bands are giving you a little extra bang for your buck so to speak with packaging, videos etc. My question to you is, what's your favorite "freebie?" Say, great artwork, digi-book / digipak, videos, multimedia files, liner notes, etc. Bonus tracks dont count.

Personally, I love liner notes. David Defeis' liner notes in the Noble Savage, Age of Consent and Invictus albums are a great read, I just loved the time and care he put in those. Also on Evergrey's LTD edits of Recreation Day and Inner Circle, I enjoyed those as well. BTW I hate digibooks. Those sleeves just suck outright and its a chore to get the cd out of without scratching. Whoever thought they were a good idea is a dumb ass.

Ben

I would agree with you that cd are not going away any time soon. And aplode the fact that you buy all of cd's for real. I do much the same thing while i don't have the money to buy all the cds i want when ever i buy them i will use burned copies from a friend or take if off their real cd. However i do evenutally buy the real thing because bands work hard for their money and i feel as me buying the cd is way you show your appreation.

A far as my favorate give away, i am not sure but if could have anything it would be person autograph and lets just say their is no way that could ever happen on a large scale.

 

[The_Q]

[QI myself love to buy Cd's and also find it a great way to collect cool things!! The best CD packages are digibooks (Star One, Masterplan, Primal Fear), the ones with the hard book case. Hammerfalls hard cover comic book limited edition release was cool. It's nice when a band goes above and beyond. Videos are great but the problem remains that if you burn a CD like Edguys "Burning Down The Opera" or Mob Rules Double digi Pack of "Among The Gods" you will also copy the video. Rhapsody had the best limited edition package I have EVER SEEN for "Dawn Of Victory".

 

[Thor Intrepid]

I think lowering the price of a regular CD (no extras) would help too. I know how much we paid for 1000 Cds, and I know that at higher quantities what the price is. However, adding all the extras will increases the price - but does add that extra incentive. We also looked at adding an extra (a couple of live MPEGs), but for a nobody band we just couldn't afford it.

 

[Demonspell]

I agree, the average price of CDs should be lowered and companies should provide more incentives to convince people that they're not getting anything close to the full package when they download albums...

 

[Heavenly Call]

I also REALLY enjoy liner notes...Lillian Axe's Phsychoschizophrenia album has a little "story" about each song next to the lyrics. I love that stuff...I'm also a huge fan of the digipak like Edguy's "Burning down the Opera" and Masterplan. Another good one is Axxis' "Time Machine" To me that makes buying the CD worth it. I do wish prices would go down, but that's not likely to happen so I'll be happy with the big booklets and digipaks.

 

[hunter]

I know that most people here on this board are like me and are cd junkies. But me and one of my friends were discussing cd's and their future not too long ago. I keep hearing that theres some major labels out there that want to do away with the cd format completely and only go digital in an attempt to combat downloading. Needless to say, both my friend and I disagree on this and say that the only way to increase the sales is to provide improvements on the actual tangible object. I myself, I despise mp3s. All they are to me are meaningless files and I have less than twenty on my computer. I use them as a way to get into a band, if my interest is piqued then I order the actual cd. Even when I downloaded whole albums, I would listen to them maybe twice but when I actually GOT the cd, it wouldnt leave my player. Nothing beats that feeling of dropping a brand new disc into the player and hearing new music for the first time. I love opening the booklet, looking at the pictures, the art, reading the thanks, all of that good stuff.

I've noticed lately though that many labels and bands are giving you a little extra bang for your buck so to speak with packaging, videos etc. My question to you is, what's your favorite "freebie?" Say, great artwork, digi-book / digipak, videos, multimedia files, liner notes, etc. Bonus tracks dont count.

Personally, I love liner notes. David Defeis' liner notes in the Noble Savage, Age of Consent and Invictus albums are a great read, I just loved the time and care he put in those. Also on Evergrey's LTD edits of Recreation Day and Inner Circle, I enjoyed those as well. BTW I hate digibooks. Those sleeves just suck outright and its a chore to get the cd out of without scratching. Whoever thought they were a good idea is a dumb ass.

Ben

Well, I agree with you that nothing really beats having a physical object in your hands. But just like with comic books, CDs and DVDs are simply not as permanently indestructable as we thought...
I recently came across several articles about CD & DVD 'rot' which basically told how early production methods were so inferior that the data on discs simply no longer work anymore because of deterioration and warping. Truth is CDs are incredibly fragile, unless the proper storage and care is taken to maintain their longevity.

Digital is really the next step for everything. I mean, virtually everything is created digitally anyway so why go through the hassle and expense of compressing it onto a format that will eventually dissolve? Even money in the form of dollars and cents are virtually obsolete because accounts (and even buying habits) are done digitally - just numbers on a screen.

 

[tenebre]

"I recently came across several articles about CD & DVD 'rot' which basically told how early production methods were so inferior that the data on discs simply no longer work anymore because of deterioration and warping. Truth is CDs are incredibly fragile, unless the proper storage and care is taken to maintain their longevity. "

I read that too... But i have over 50 CDs that i bought in early 1990.. All of them are perfect. In fact i have NEVER replaced a cd ever. I view them as nearly indestructable. I have no idea what people are talking about. I store them in their cases. But its not like an enviromental control chamber.

 

[Creeps]

lowering the costs of cds simply won't happen.. there's too many people that have to get paid off the sale of that one cd. From the artists down to the retailer that has to make a profit on it.

Having delt with wholesale and retail music the price of these cds aren't as cheap as you'd think. New material can cost up to $10.99 per disc. Now if you're a retailer you have to make money off that as well.

Now put yourself in a storefront. That's a lot of cds you have to sell to make rent each month if you want to stay competitive with outlets like Circuit City, Target, Best Buy & Walmart.

Outlets like that can afford to sell cds for so cheap because that's not all that they sell in the store. They're selling everything form tVs to washing machines and could care less that they only make $1-$2 on each cd sale.

As far as freebies go. Live dvd concerts are my favorite. Or a dvd of all the music videos (Rob Zombie did this with his greatest hits package and was the sole purpose for me buying it).

 

[Thor Intrepid]

I agree about lowering the prices. BUT, a big but, it would be an interesting experiment for a large media chain (Circuit City, FYE, Best Buy, etc.) to have a weekend sale where all regularly priced CDs were $10.00. But then again almost all of the CDs that I buy are through Amazon.com anyway as I cannot find them locally!

-edit-
I agree about the digibook sleve thing, I hate trying to pull the CD out without getting my finger all over the play side!

 

[Daybreaker]

Lowering prices, nah its not gonna happen. Believe me people, even at wholesale cds arent cheap. When me and my friend ran our own metal store, from labels and stuff, cds were on avg 10-15 dollars, generally 13. So if you think about it when you pay 16 bucks, thats not much of a markup.

Ben

 

[tenebre]

I pay 10-13 bucks for a new CD. special edition may cost up to 15 in rare cases and double CDs slightly more.

But I think the wholesale could drop. St. Anger was released for 9.99 and it had an entire free DVD.

I do feel that if more people released excellent product enhancements people would be more apt to buy.

The recent UDO thundervision DVD single... cost me only 7.99 Euro.. but its 75 minutes long.. and has 4 video clips etc. The bang for you buck, I feel, will keep people buying the discs. I do feel they could cut out cost by lowering the wholesale rate some.