Think of CD prices nowadays
- Thread starter Firehead
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Mardoch
Defender of the Universe
LunaTEKKE
Madness Reigns
- Mar 23, 2006
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Nor does it include the 100 other bands that the label signed, recorded, produced, promoted, and distributed that *could* have become the next Evergrey, but didn't.
I have absolutely no problem with CD prices. I think the price is more than fair, given the increases over the last 10 years in things like movie tickets or college tuition.
Of course, we all have our hot buttons. It really fries me to pay $14.99 to download a new release to my Kindle. Yeah, I get it, they had to build the infrastructure, and you still have marketing/promotion expenses, and the risk of signing unknown authors. But it seems to me that there should be a much bigger discount for purchasing an e-book vs. a physical copy. But, of course, I will pay the going rate if I don't have the patience to wait for a library copy. What are you gonna do?
Mardoch
Defender of the Universe
I was desperate to find Clandestine - The Invalid, because some tunes off of it have been stuck in my head for months on and off and it's not in my library at home somehow. So I tore into a box that'd been sitting at my feet for 1.5 years after I left my old job...
Clearly the price of CDs doesn't affect me too badly. That was from PPUSA 13 through May '13.
In short, they're not that pricey, suck it up if you've gotta have the discs. Oh and I found that Clandestine disc...in a different place. I'm going to gently inform my wife that she's not to move my discs anymore, even if she means well.
Clearly the price of CDs doesn't affect me too badly. That was from PPUSA 13 through May '13.
In short, they're not that pricey, suck it up if you've gotta have the discs. Oh and I found that Clandestine disc...in a different place. I'm going to gently inform my wife that she's not to move my discs anymore, even if she means well.
Diamond45
Terminate Bad Music
I fully agree with you. However the part that surprises me is that sometimes on Amazon you can get the audio CD *cheaper* than the MP3s. I've been getting some "back catalog" stuff and found that it's cheaper to get the physical CD rather than get the MP3s. (I always get the CD - you miss so much without the lyrics and liner notes.)
Of course, we all have our hot buttons. It really fries me to pay $14.99 to download a new release to my Kindle. Yeah, I get it, they had to build the infrastructure, and you still have marketing/promotion expenses, and the risk of signing unknown authors. But it seems to me that there should be a much bigger discount for purchasing an e-book vs. a physical copy. But, of course, I will pay the going rate if I don't have the patience to wait for a library copy. What are you gonna do?
That's interesting to know. I'm moving from paperbacks to eBooks (Kindle) myself. I've noticed that sometimes you can get them cheaper but often times they're almost the same price as an actual book!
I didn't know you can get eBooks at a library. I need to look into that!
(Edit: Looks like my local library offers it!)
There was a recent settlement between Amazon and book publisher Hachette where Amazon wanted to sell eBooks cheaper than physical books, while Hachette wanted to sell eBooks at full price! Hachette won that battle.
LunaTEKKE,
I just thought I'd chime in regarding your post about e-books. As a corporate slave to Barnes & Noble, I know a thing or two about book pricing. If you're buying new releases on your Kindle, you actually are paying a discounted price. Keep in mind that the very good majority of big name publisher titles are released in a hardcover format anywhere from three months to a year before they're released in a paperback format. These hardcover editions are generally priced $10 to $15 higher than the paperbacks.
Case in point: Martin Short just had a book published by HarperCollins. The retail price of a hardcover copy is $26.99. The e-book is $16.99 (a savings of 37%). When that book is released in paperback, it will most likely be sold around the $16.00 mark. Therefore, if you purchase the e-book now, you're paying considerably less for it than you would if you walked into a store and purchased a physical copy. The problem is that Amazon sells their hardcover books at such low prices that it would lead you to believe that you're being ripped off when you purchase e-books. This has caused Barnes & Noble to follow suit with their online store. This is why bookstores across the country are going the way of the buffalo. A giant like the company that employs me is basically competing with itself for customers in hopes of staying afloat while the Wal-Mart of the internet keeps slashing prices. To sum it up, the whole media retail world is a mess.
Stay metal. Never rust.
Albert
I just thought I'd chime in regarding your post about e-books. As a corporate slave to Barnes & Noble, I know a thing or two about book pricing. If you're buying new releases on your Kindle, you actually are paying a discounted price. Keep in mind that the very good majority of big name publisher titles are released in a hardcover format anywhere from three months to a year before they're released in a paperback format. These hardcover editions are generally priced $10 to $15 higher than the paperbacks.
Case in point: Martin Short just had a book published by HarperCollins. The retail price of a hardcover copy is $26.99. The e-book is $16.99 (a savings of 37%). When that book is released in paperback, it will most likely be sold around the $16.00 mark. Therefore, if you purchase the e-book now, you're paying considerably less for it than you would if you walked into a store and purchased a physical copy. The problem is that Amazon sells their hardcover books at such low prices that it would lead you to believe that you're being ripped off when you purchase e-books. This has caused Barnes & Noble to follow suit with their online store. This is why bookstores across the country are going the way of the buffalo. A giant like the company that employs me is basically competing with itself for customers in hopes of staying afloat while the Wal-Mart of the internet keeps slashing prices. To sum it up, the whole media retail world is a mess.
Stay metal. Never rust.
Albert
I don't think CD prices are crazy high at this point. When I can typically get the CD for the same price or very frequently cheaper than the MP3 album, I think it is the MP3 album that is priced around the $10 point that is way to high.
I like having a physical product to collect and overtake my floorspace. I've already purchased more than 230 albums, the vast majority of which are CDs. I've bought more vinyl this year than anytime since the pre-CD 80s. Digital releases have no appeal to me. I can rip my own MP3 if I need them. The digital albums I have purchased have been because that is the only release channel for the music, and probably 99% of those have been through Bandcamp.
Vinyl is a boutique media and is priced accordingly. I guess a single LP can be had for under $20 pretty readily. I'm sure if you did a cost-adjustment on what vinyl cost back in the day, that is probably nearly competitive or at least not too far out of whack. The nice thing about the vinyl releases now is that the quality of the product (the vinyl) is amazing. The color variants and whatnot that are produced has really made the medium exciting again. I'm not going to re-ignite the vinyl vs digital fire again, but I have to say that some of the recent pressings I have purchased are clearly sonically superior. The recent pressing they did of DT's Awake...amazing.
If I was going to lay down some prognostication here, I'd say MP3 as a product has it's days numbered already. The youngsters now are not even interested in that technology. My 16 year old son has walked away from iTunes completely. He either streams from Spotify or listens to albums on You tube. If he can't find something, then he hits me up to get a CD.
If every release had a vinyl offering, and every vinyl came with a download code, I would certainly be tempted to walk away from CDs. Ofcourse, those vinyl albums are true real estate hogs!
I like having a physical product to collect and overtake my floorspace. I've already purchased more than 230 albums, the vast majority of which are CDs. I've bought more vinyl this year than anytime since the pre-CD 80s. Digital releases have no appeal to me. I can rip my own MP3 if I need them. The digital albums I have purchased have been because that is the only release channel for the music, and probably 99% of those have been through Bandcamp.
Vinyl is a boutique media and is priced accordingly. I guess a single LP can be had for under $20 pretty readily. I'm sure if you did a cost-adjustment on what vinyl cost back in the day, that is probably nearly competitive or at least not too far out of whack. The nice thing about the vinyl releases now is that the quality of the product (the vinyl) is amazing. The color variants and whatnot that are produced has really made the medium exciting again. I'm not going to re-ignite the vinyl vs digital fire again, but I have to say that some of the recent pressings I have purchased are clearly sonically superior. The recent pressing they did of DT's Awake...amazing.
If I was going to lay down some prognostication here, I'd say MP3 as a product has it's days numbered already. The youngsters now are not even interested in that technology. My 16 year old son has walked away from iTunes completely. He either streams from Spotify or listens to albums on You tube. If he can't find something, then he hits me up to get a CD.
If every release had a vinyl offering, and every vinyl came with a download code, I would certainly be tempted to walk away from CDs. Ofcourse, those vinyl albums are true real estate hogs!
I've also read that there aren't a whole lot of savings in going digital vs dead tree.
But, you have a good point that he publishing world is struggling with the new realities of digital publishing. It used to be they could get good money up front with hardback sales, and the reader got some value by getting a hardback. But, the reader doesn't get that value for the higher price of recently released books. Digital can be a race to the bottom.
Books have been a primary source of going digital, because as much as CDs take up space, books are even more so. (Think my piles of CDs are bad, you should see my wife's piles of books.) My wife and I handle things differently. I buy books digitally, while my wife makes heavy use of the library.
Mardoch
Defender of the Universe
Has your boy walked away from iTunes because of Apple/iTunes' behaviour, or because of disdain for the format? I suspect the former, personally. As an avid Bandcamp user I couldn't be happier with the service, pricing, and products. They just need to add a damned volume control to their site!
hoodaman
Is it live or is it Dave?
- Dec 19, 2006
- 857
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I found a personal solution to that problem. I have 2 milk crates. My fiancee and I both like to listen to vinyl. Our rule is, we cannot get any more vinyl than will comfortably fit in those 2 crates. If we do get those 2 filled up and run out of space then I know for sure there are records in these 2 crates that we don't listen to enough to warrant a place in the crate and we go through and weed out the ones without staying power.
Mind you we also have an CD quality or better FLAC server that we use in conjunction with our vinyl.
The majority of the reason is that Spotify and You Tube are so much easier to use, and especially with Spotify, the selection is massive and there is no no hit against his phone data quota when he streams from them. While he does now have an iPhone, he grew to really hate iTunes, and it really is obsolete for him now. He doesn't have to do any app maintenance or syncing nonsense.
I really, really, really hope that Bandcamp's rates are advantageous to the artists, because I too find it to be an outstanding source of music. I have found so many outstanding bands on their site. It is an incredible resource.
Only two crates? That's harsh! I did a major vinyl purge some time ago. That got me down to about two milk crates. Not bad, considering I probably turned loose about 4 times that amount. Since I started buying vinyl again, I've maxed out one crate already. Vinyl prices are keeping me a bit more selective than I am with CDs, but I'm not one who is about to start gleaning the vinyl collection. For those, it's not just about the music on them, but the product itself. The storage consideration for vinyl should also keep me on a leash. The 2200+ CDs I have are easily concealed in nice pieces of furniture, but even a quarter of that amount in vinyl is going to eat up space that doesn't currently exist!
CDs are like other tech. Over time the price to manufacture the product should dramatically drop... which is why today's computers, while much faster than machines 20 years ago, cost much less.
the price to manufacture cds is lower than it's ever been before, which means that cds should be profitable at much lower price points. $5 should be a very reasonable price.
dcowboys311
Member
I can think of more than a handful of well-respected underground labels who have huge quantities of their albums available for streaming and purchase on Bandcamp, some even their entire label's discography. Bandcamp fees seem to be pretty nice too -- 15% of the digital cut and 10% of the merch cut, nothing more. Easily my favorite music service.
Mardoch
Defender of the Universe
I want to live in the world where $5 makes everyone along the CD production chain enough money for it to be considered "reasonable."
That is pretty decent. I don't know how that compares to other digital outlets, but Bandcamp's delivery is impressive. It's good to know that the artists are pocketing that big a share of the proceeds.
It's all about efficiency. CD costs are not what they were in the 90s, nor are they what they were 10 years ago, yet the prices haven't dropped accordingly.
And people wonder why the record industry has been decimated?
In 2011, 21 by Adele sold nearly six million units according to Nielsen Soundscan; when the album passed the ten million mark in 2012 there was word that it was the new Thriller of our times. In fact, only thirteen titles sold one million copies in 2011 in 2001 there were more than one hundred such titles. (link)
LunaTEKKE
Madness Reigns
- Mar 23, 2006
- 1,220
- 8
- 38
Interesting - and that's directly from Amazon? I know that if you use their 3rd party sellers, you can find crazy prices like 1 cent - but then, of course, the shipping is $10.
Interesting info - thanks for the inside scoop! Reminds me a bit of when electronics stores like Best Buy and Circuit City started selling CDs as loss leaders to get people into the stores to buy refrigerators and TVs.
P.S. I wouldn't mind being a corporate slave, if it came with employee discounts on books.
Here's an article from 1995.
http://www.nytimes.com/1995/07/05/arts/pennies-that-add-up-to-16.98-why-cd-s-cost-so-much.html
Relevant quote:
So yes, in the very early days (80s) the cost per CD was higher. By the mid 90s the cost was $1 or less. Even if that cost were down to $0.10 now, that would not impact the cost we pay per CD by more than $1-$2 at most.
