Justin G
Member
CDs aren't going anywhere as long as there are collectors willing to buy them. They may become harder to get and more expensive, but there will always be at least some demand.
Think of CD prices nowadays
- Thread starter Firehead
- Start date
AeonicSlumber
srs
- Aug 14, 2008
- 4,893
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CDs cost around $3 to manufacture, get sold at wholesale for around $6 and then the retailer sells the CD for $15. So the label gets about $3 in profit per sale - sometimes even less depending on the distribution deal. And retailer profit per CD sold is around the same, because the retailer pays for all the shipping.
If you wanted the cost of a CD to be lower, the label would have to sell CDs to retailers at a lower wholesale rate - so if labels only made $1 in profit per sale, they would have to sell 3 x the amount of CDs to get to the same place they were at when they were selling them at a $3 margin. These labels decided that it would probably be impossible to do that and get the same amount of money.
That's why the price of CDs will never go down.
If you wanted the cost of a CD to be lower, the label would have to sell CDs to retailers at a lower wholesale rate - so if labels only made $1 in profit per sale, they would have to sell 3 x the amount of CDs to get to the same place they were at when they were selling them at a $3 margin. These labels decided that it would probably be impossible to do that and get the same amount of money.
That's why the price of CDs will never go down.
The problem I have is typically the price of MP3 albums are on the upper end of that scale. For a lossy format, I think that is too much, particularly when buying the CD isn't much more than that. (As I said before, I want a lossless format for archive purposes.) Yeah, people on BandCamp offer FLAC, but it is hard to know who is on BandCamp.
I know CD's are sold at PP, so two parts:
1. Are the vendors just the labels (Century Media, Nuclear Blast, etc.), or can any Joe Blow be authorized to have a table?
2. How are the prices there? With no shipping costs, do they end up being closer to the magic $10 price?
1. Are the vendors just the labels (Century Media, Nuclear Blast, etc.), or can any Joe Blow be authorized to have a table?
2. How are the prices there? With no shipping costs, do they end up being closer to the magic $10 price?
nailz
Member
Just out of curiosity, why were the other 900 conversations on this very topic in this very forum not enough insight for you? Why do we have to constantly rehash this same, tired conversation. By now, I'm actually able to tell you EXACTLY who on this forum is Pro CD, Pro Download, Pro Spotify, and why.
I mean really, what else is there to say on this topic?
To those who like MP3's, more power to you. But for me, you don't really OWN anything. Yeah, you have the music on your computer but really that ends up just being the same effect as hearing it via Youtube in a way. I know once you have the MP3 you can rip it to other devices, but I like to go back to where it once came from originally, and that's just the physical disc. I LIKE artwork. I like the designs of the disc. The physical aspect is always the best.
As great as porn on a screen is, there's no topping being able to feel a woman physically!
As great as porn on a screen is, there's no topping being able to feel a woman physically!
Justin G
Member
1. The vendors range from labels to vendors.
2. The prices range from normal to ridiculously low. A $10 average seems about right, all things considered.
Justin G
Member
Sorry, I don't post very often and I didn't see the other threads on the topic. I thought these forums were for discussing things every once in a while. I didn't realize the other posters were offended, so thank you for sticking up for them.
I'll try to be quieter going forward. You may go back to sleep now.
Thank you. That's really cool that the prices are that low for the fans. One of the great perks of the show for sure!
Mardoch
Defender of the Universe
To those who like MP3's, more power to you. But for me, you don't really OWN anything. Yeah, you have the music on your computer but really that ends up just being the same effect as hearing it via Youtube in a way. I know once you have the MP3 you can rip it to other devices, but I like to go back to where it once came from originally, and that's just the physical disc. I LIKE artwork. I like the designs of the disc. The physical aspect is always the best.
As great as porn on a screen is, there's no topping being able to feel a woman physically!
A lot of the digital albums I buy come with artwork and books as PDFs.
To your last line, you're making the wrong comparison. Porn vs real people is album listening vs concertgoing, not digital vs physical media.
Mardoch
Defender of the Universe
And the thing to keep in mind is that the cheap discs, usually on day 2, is partially to avoid multiple shipping costs. They're making the exact same bulk calculations brought up earlier by AS and others. They've already paid shipping on those discs, twice in many cases, and don't want to pay it again, so they play ball. They've got a greater degree of certainty that they can move enough product at the right prices to not lose their asses, though, because they know us and our voracious appetites for discs so the risks are mitigated by better market condition knowledge.
I was just comparing the two formats. If we throw concertgoing into the mix, then it would be:
MP3's to CD's to concertgoing vs porn on a screen to banging an actual broad to banging a smoking hot broad.
But I guess that'll lead it to a completely different thread topic.
To those who like MP3's, more power to you. But for me, you don't really OWN anything. Yeah, you have the music on your computer but really that ends up just being the same effect as hearing it via Youtube in a way. I know once you have the MP3 you can rip it to other devices, but I like to go back to where it once came from originally, and that's just the physical disc. I LIKE artwork. I like the designs of the disc. The physical aspect is always the best.
As great as porn on a screen is, there's no topping being able to feel a woman physically!
As much as I enjoy having stuff (and I don't begrudge those who like to own stuff), the problem I have is that stuff takes up space. Given that I live in a townhouse with two other people, this stuff collects and causes clutter.
The reality is that most CDs sit on the shelves and collect dust. Currently, I have a couple hundred CDs sitting on the floor because I have no shelf space and no real room to add more. Right now, I'm having a tough time trying to cull the collection to make room.
And while you are right about digital downloads (which is another reason why I think they charge too much for them), I'm not particularly interested in selling my downloads.
NorseBlood
franks n steins
CD prices are usually priced too high for me. Occasionally I'll buy a CD off of Ebay if that is the only way to get the music. For example, some rare CDs and also some imports can be found on Ebay that cannot be found anywhere else. Even then, when they arrive in the mail the first thing I'll do is rip the CD to MP3 because that is my preferred format. MP3s are just a lot easier to use, and the sound quality is good enough for my damaged ears to not tell the difference. Also, its a lot easier to have a few 32 GB SD cards loaded with my favorite music in my car stereo than to have a trunk full of jewel cases with the same albums. Its also easier for me to organize and catalogue all my MP3s onto a spare external backup hard drive for safe keeping. Now, as a member of Emusic album prices range from $4.90 to $6.49 per album, which is a lot cheaper than what other vendors sell the same albums for. Occasionally you'll have albums not follow that pricing. For example, Evergrey's newest is selling for $8.24 on Emusic. What I do then is just put the album in my save-for-later folder and when the price eventually drops I'll buy it, and the price WILL drop, its just a matter of time. With MP3 downloads, I'm actually spending more money on music than when I was purchasing CDs alone. Its easier to purchase, and the cheaper price means I purchase albums more often. Finally, if for some reason I really do want a hard copy of an album, I can always burn one off an MP3 to a music CD with little effort. FWIW I'm not a fan of iTunes because it is m4a format only, and non-Apple music players don't like it (unless you have one flashed with Rockbox.) My car stereo doesn't like m4a music either. If you don't want a Emusic subscription, then I recommend us.7digital.com (American site) or www.7digital.com (European site). Their music is always MP3 320 format ripped which is usually the highest quality you can download - better than Amazon, iTunes, and Emusic.
A lot of new releases on Amazon are $10 when newly released. For example, the new Machine Head! I bought the limited edition Evergrey and I think at $13 or so when released was a good price.
Keir
Member
I agree with most of this, but I think the cassette thing is just a fad. With vinyl showing up in mainstream stores like FYE, some people needed something more "cool" I guess. However, I really doubt it has the staying power of vinyl. If you think about it, tapes were only a predominant music format for about 10 years and even then they were never as popular as vinyl or CDs (in the US).
hoodaman
Is it live or is it Dave?
- Dec 19, 2006
- 857
- 29
- 28
it's cheaper than buying new vinyl pretty much every day of the week.
I just stopped buying CDs. I started buying FLAC downloads. They're CD quality and almost always cheaper. Only way I'll buy a CD is if it's not available ANYWHERE as a FLAC download. Then I'll buy it, rip it then get rid of it.
I just stopped buying CDs. I started buying FLAC downloads. They're CD quality and almost always cheaper. Only way I'll buy a CD is if it's not available ANYWHERE as a FLAC download. Then I'll buy it, rip it then get rid of it.
General Zod
Ruler of Australia
Vinyl is a collector format, and has advantages over CDs. Cassettes are mostly made as a rarity. Regardless, digital files can do everything CDs can do and more. Conversely, digital files cannot do everything albums and cassettes can do.
This.
And this.
