DVD Movie prices versus CD Music prices

[tk149]

When music CD's first came out, the prices were considerably higher than vinyl album prices ($15 vs. $10) for new music.

The music industry's excuse was that CD's cost more to make if you include all the costs of building the plant, leasing the technology, etc. I seem to recall that they said that once the initial costs were recouped, the price of CD's would drop.

Ok, we bought the excuse, and the CD market eventually destroyed the album market. The price has never really dropped. Sure, the actual price hasn't increased to keep up with inflation, but the promised price drops that the music industry said would eventually occur never happened.

I was in Circuit City the other day, and bought a bunch of DVD movies for under $10. Some of these were older big budget films (e.g. Die Hard 3, Aliens 2). I walked by the CD section, and while some CD's were around $10, most were around $15.

DVD tech is newer than CD tech.
Movies (especially big budget) can't possibly cost less to make than a 10-song recording.
Movies (especially Hollywood blockbusters) have a much bigger marketing budget than almost any artists's CD.

So why are DVD's so much cheaper?

I don't suppose the RIAA factors this into their Piracy-is-costing-us-zillions statistics?

 

[RadiclDreamer]

RIAA and Greed

 

[Demon-Xanth]

The RIAA plans to make the MSRP for a CD be $10,000,000 so they can sue for more damages.

 

[pontifex]

compare newly released movies with newly released cds. they are close to the same price, or more often movies are more expensive.

 

[skace]

music CDs should be around 5 bucks. Yet every time I use amazon they are around $25

 

[Demon-Xanth]

Originally posted by: pontifex
compare newly released movies with newly released cds. they are close to the same price, or more often movies are more expensive.

Again, many of the points are valid.

Edit:
What makes me curious is how movies can be had cheaper than their soundtracks in many cases.

 

[vi edit]

How many music albums go out and make 125 million in their opening weekend, possibly 500+ million over the course of it's theatre release, and then another couple hundred million in DVD sales and rentals plus however many millions in marketing ties like games, action figures, and various novelties?

Movies have much more avenues to spread the costs around and have a higher ceiling they can reach profit wise. So that subsidizes the costs.

 

[pontifex]

Originally posted by: skace
music CDs should be around 5 bucks. Yet every time I use amazon they are around $25

what cds are you buying? most of the cds i've seen are $10-15

 

[PrinceofWands]

Just stop buying them. If consumers stop buying, things will change. I won't spend more than $10 for a cd unless it's the greatest release of the year. Because of that I only buy maybe a dozen or two cds a year now. If they dropped the prices back down to $10 being average I'd go back to buying 100+ cds a year.

Same thing goes for movies. $10 is my cap, except for the few super releases each year. However, it's easy to find movies at that price, so I still can buy 100+ a year.

If people would just tighten up on their spending all companies would cave and reduce costs. 100% of power rests with the people, it's just that they never choose to exercise it.

 

[R Nilla]

Pretty much what vi edit said. Movies are not limited to DVD sales for revenue, where albums are purchased via CD or MP3 and that's about it. No theatrical release, no TV deals, no On Demand services, etc.

I do find it interesting, though, that:
DVDs seem to drop significantly in price the longer they are out (especially after a year).
CDs seem to increase in price after the initial release. I often see new CDs released for 9.99, and within a year they will be up to 13.99 or more.

 

[sdifox]

Repeat play of music is far more likely than movie dvds.

 

[tk149]

Originally posted by: pontifex
compare newly released movies with newly released cds. they are close to the same price, or more often movies are more expensive.

This still doesn't explain why CD's, which presumably cost much much less to record, manufacture, and market, cost even close to a DVD movie.

Demon-Xanth has a great point about the movie soundtrack CD's costing more than the Movie DVD's. How the heck do you explain that?

Of course, the ultimate answer is that the music industry charges so much because people will buy their stuff anyway, but it really is bizarre if you think about it.

 

[ElFenix]

CDs are more versatile than DVDs. want to watch a movie? fork over 2 hours of your life. want to listen to a CD while playing l4d? go right ahead.

 

[tk149]

Originally posted by: vi edit
How many music albums go out and make 125 million in their opening weekend, possibly 500+ million over the course of it's theatre release, and then another couple hundred million in DVD sales and rentals plus however many millions in marketing ties like games, action figures, and various novelties?

Movies have much more avenues to spread the costs around and have a higher ceiling they can reach profit wise. So that subsidizes the costs.

But many movies don't make mega-millions at the box office. Heck, a lot are released straight-to-DVD, and there are no marketing tie-ins like games, toys, etc.

A quick look at Rotten Tomatoes shows these top selling DVD's:

Nim's Island (2008)
South Park - The Complete Eleventh Season (2008)
21 (2008)
Prison Break - Season Three (2008)
Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay (2008)
The Wire - The Complete Fifth Season (2008)
Smart People (2008)
Batman Begins Limited Edition (2005)
The Bank Job (2008)
Never Back Down (2008)

I'm guessing that only 2 or 3 of those have any kind of additional tie-ins (besides the soundtrack CD, which probably sells for close to the same price as the DVD). It's almost guaranteed that you could find most of the movies for around $20 or less. Definitely after a year, you could find them for less.

cost of filming a movie >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Cost to make a music recording

Lower production costs to recoup.

How many CD's cost $65 million to make?

Average cost to produce of movie was $65 million in 2006 - This article even says that the cost could be much higher.



I think the Greed factor is the real reason (not saying it's bad). I wonder what the profit margin is on the average CD?

 

[tk149]

Originally posted by: ElFenix
CDs are more versatile than DVDs. want to watch a movie? fork over 2 hours of your life. want to listen to a CD while playing l4d? go right ahead.

What does utility have to do with manufacturing and production costs?

 

[GoPackGo]

Its called price fixing...

oh yeah and songs make money evertime they are played on the radio and don't forget about $80 concert tickets.

 

[ElFenix]

Originally posted by: tk149

Originally posted by: ElFenix
CDs are more versatile than DVDs. want to watch a movie? fork over 2 hours of your life. want to listen to a CD while playing l4d? go right ahead.

What does utility have to do with manufacturing and production costs?

utility has everything to do with how much you'd be willing to pay for it.

you've fallen into the trap of thinking that something's sales price should necessarily reflect the cost to make it.

 

[Fingolfin269]

Originally posted by: ElFenix

Originally posted by: tk149

Originally posted by: ElFenix
CDs are more versatile than DVDs. want to watch a movie? fork over 2 hours of your life. want to listen to a CD while playing l4d? go right ahead.

What does utility have to do with manufacturing and production costs?

utility has everything to do with how much you'd be willing to pay for it.

you've fallen into the trap of thinking that something's sales price should necessarily reflect the cost to make it.

That's just it though. I won't buy CDs any more because I think the pricing is severely dated. For example, I wanted to buy a Led Zeppelin CD over the weekend because I couldn't find my copy. Freaking $17.99. What the hell???

 

[Elganja]

you can get most cd's in mp3 format from amazon for about 5-10 bucks...

just do that and burn a copy for yourself...

 

[Fingolfin269]

Originally posted by: Elganja
you can get most cd's in mp3 format from amazon for about 5-10 bucks...

just do that and burn a copy for yourself...

That's what I do now. But this topic is about CDs.

 

[Elganja]

Originally posted by: Fingolfin269

Originally posted by: Elganja
you can get most cd's in mp3 format from amazon for about 5-10 bucks...

just do that and burn a copy for yourself...

That's what I do now. But this topic is about CDs.

yes it is... and i'm saying the OP can just make his own for 10 bucks

 

[Fingolfin269]

Originally posted by: Elganja

Originally posted by: Fingolfin269

Originally posted by: Elganja
you can get most cd's in mp3 format from amazon for about 5-10 bucks...

just do that and burn a copy for yourself...

That's what I do now. But this topic is about CDs.

yes it is... and i'm saying the OP can just make his own for 10 bucks

Amazon is a better quality download than iTunes as well right? I haven't dl'd from iTunes in a LOOONg time so that could be way off the mark. I just find it hard to resist $5 album downloads.

 

[frostedflakes]

Originally posted by: vi edit
How many music albums go out and make 125 million in their opening weekend, possibly 500+ million over the course of it's theatre release, and then another couple hundred million in DVD sales and rentals plus however many millions in marketing ties like games, action figures, and various novelties?

Movies have much more avenues to spread the costs around and have a higher ceiling they can reach profit wise. So that subsidizes the costs.

This. For movies there are many sources of revenue. For music, CDs, touring, and merchandise are about it.

Also, I never understood why people complain so much about CD prices. Most of the albums I buy are $10-15 ($20-25 for special edition releases) and I think that's very reasonable. For example, some of my favorite albums I've probably listened to hundreds of times. That's hundreds of hours of entertainment for $15 -- pretty good bang for your buck IMO.

Conversely, I don't buy nearly as many movies as I do CDs, because most have little replay value for me. Most movies I'll watch once and that's it, I have no desire to watch it again.

 

[PingSpike]

Originally posted by: ElFenix

Originally posted by: tk149

Originally posted by: ElFenix
CDs are more versatile than DVDs. want to watch a movie? fork over 2 hours of your life. want to listen to a CD while playing l4d? go right ahead.

What does utility have to do with manufacturing and production costs?

utility has everything to do with how much you'd be willing to pay for it.

you've fallen into the trap of thinking that something's sales price should necessarily reflect the cost to make it.

Well, that was what the industry that sells these things said when they replaced tapes and albums with CDs: That they cost more because the technology cost more. And that the price would fall as the technology got cheaper. Of course, that never happened and now DVDs of movies using block buster special effects starring big name actors who get paid millions sell for $3 more then a CD from latest popular artist - soon to disappear.

Originally posted by: vi edit
How many music albums go out and make 125 million in their opening weekend, possibly 500+ million over the course of it's theatre release, and then another couple hundred million in DVD sales and rentals plus however many millions in marketing ties like games, action figures, and various novelties?

Movies have much more avenues to spread the costs around and have a higher ceiling they can reach profit wise. So that subsidizes the costs.

And here's the other arguement...I'm sorry, but a couple days in a recording studio for some drug addict bums or the next sing-by-computer jailbait softcore porn actress doesn't cost as much as making a full feature film or even one of those CGI dinosaur attack movies on the scifi channel. They both need marketing, but I'd say movies spend way more there as well.

Its just greed, and obviously enough people will pay it so I can't blame them one bit. And I don't even really care...it's not like I'm going to die with some CDs so I just don't buy them and listen to the radio instead. But lets not pretend they'd starve or something if they lowered the price.

 

[ElFenix]

Originally posted by: PingSpike

Well, that was what the industry that sells these things said when they replaced tapes and albums with CDs: That they cost more because the technology cost more. And that the price would fall as the technology got cheaper. Of course, that never happened and now DVDs of movies using block buster special effects starring big name actors who get paid millions sell for $3 more then a CD from latest popular artist - soon to disappear.

iirc, CDs do cost less than they used to, and that's even without factoring in inflation. 15 years ago, a CD cost $15. today, a CD costs... $15.

and the reason they said that is because there are a lot of people such as yourself who erroneously think that a product's price should be reflective of its manufacturing cost. the reason CDs cost more than tapes is because they sound better and they last longer. they are more valuable to consumers and so consumers are willing to shell out more $ for them.

And here's the other arguement...I'm sorry, but a couple days in a recording studio for some drug addict bums or the next sing-by-computer jailbait softcore porn actress doesn't cost as much as making a full feature film or even one of those CGI dinosaur attack movies on the scifi channel. They both need marketing, but I'd say movies spend way more there as well.

Its just greed, and obviously enough people will pay it so I can't blame them one bit. And I don't even really care...it's not like I'm going to die with some CDs so I just don't buy them and listen to the radio instead. But lets not pretend they'd starve or something if they lowered the price.

another factor of it is volume. a gold record is 500,000 records sold. gold is a hit. that's $7 or 8 million. that's a horrifically bad opening weekend for a new movie, let alone total. and think of all the albums that never go gold.