Excellent article about RIAA and sales of CD's

[Nemesis77]

Link

2001 may not be the year the music died, but the pop biz did develop a nagging headache, and it's not going away. The recorded-music industry's first slump in more than two decades continues this year; the number of discs sold is slipping and so is the appeal of last year's stars. Britney Spears' latest album has moved 4 million copies?a big number, but less than half what its predecessor did.

The Recording Industry Association of America, which represents the five major labels that dominate CD retailing, would like to blame much of the slide on Internet music-file swapping. Yet there are many other causes, including the fact that the big five are all units of troubled multinationals?AOL Time Warner, Vivendi Universal, BMG, EMI, and Sony?that are focused on short-term gain and have no particular interest in the music biz. There's also been a recession, of course, and resistance to CD prices that have grown much faster than the inflation rate. Perhaps the most important factor, however, is the major labels' very success in dominating the market, which has squelched musical innovation.

More behind the link

 

[boyRacer]

For some reason... whenever im reminded of Napster... i always think of that Ulrich guy. I still buy CDs though.

 

[bmacd]

The last CD i bought was Our Lady Peace "Gravity. It's such a great CD, but other than that, it's been almost three years since i've bought a CD.

-=bmacd=-

 

[broon]

Sales might be down because there isn't a whole lot of good music being released this year. Maybe Britney's latest one sux. Or maybe people are realizing she sux. Prices are too high. If I want it bad enough, I'll buy it. The only thing I've bought this year is Rush - Vapor Trails. Nothing else I want.

 

[FeathersMcGraw]

Originally posted by: broon
Sales might be down because there isn't a whole lot of good music being released this year. Maybe Britney's latest one sux. Or maybe people are realizing she sux. Prices are too high. If I want it bad enough, I'll buy it. The only thing I've bought this year is Rush - Vapor Trails. Nothing else I want.

No, I'm pretty sure the real reason is that you're a file-swapping, profit-jacking terrorist. But that's okay, because we've already hacked into your home computer and deleted all of its contents. Now go buy that Celine Dion album we know you've been secretly dying to get.

Sincerely,

The Recording Industry Association of America

 

[BDawg]

Originally posted by: broon
Sales might be down because there isn't a whole lot of good music being released this year. Maybe Britney's latest one sux. Or maybe people are realizing she sux. Prices are too high. If I want it bad enough, I'll buy it. The only thing I've bought this year is Rush - Vapor Trails. Nothing else I want.

That and James LaBrie's Mullmuzzler 2 were the last CDs I've bought...and I don't even d/l mp3s.

 

[cavingjan]

Its pretty bad when a DVD is getting to be cheaper than a CD. I still buy the same number of CDs I have in the past, not that many. I'd rather listen to the radio that to the same couple CDs over and over again.

 

[SinnerWolf]

as the article suggests, consumers are tired of paying for crap. pop music has finally reached its saturation point imo, and rock-rap fusion is becoming mundane. Anymore, there is no price difference between a dvd movie and an album. A hell of a lot more work goes into making a movie/dvd then an audio cd, and people recognize now that artists are lucky to get double digit percentages of an album sale. Lawsuit after lawsuit about making music customizable, ubiquitous, and easy....people don't want to invest in a company when they buy a cd. If the RIAA wants to keep the current model, they had better up the product's features or include stock for sony inside the cd cover. Even if they are right, and P2P programs are killing album sales, they'll eventually bleed themselves dry with all the litigations. It takes years to end a company, and it takes a month or two to design a new idiot-proof media-share program.

Originally posted by: BoYRaCeR
For some reason... whenever im reminded of Napster... i always think of that Ulrich guy. I still buy CDs though.

you mean Lars? from metallica?

 

[jjones]

Good, I hope revenues continue to go into the toilet. I hope they all fall off the end of the earth and die. They've monopolized music and turned it into a complete piece of sh!t producing, low-brow thinking, mechanized, cookie-cutter, stagnant industry. Rather than a war on Iraq, I'd like to see a few bombs lobbed in the direction of the music industry's corporate offices. What they have done to music is criminal, not what the mp3 pirates are doing.

 

[Kadarin]

Originally posted by: BoYRaCeR
For some reason... whenever im reminded of Napster... i always think of that Ulrich guy. I still buy CDs though.

Which reminds me of that brilliant (yet silly) Flash animation... "Napster BAD! Beer GOOD!"

Recession + high prices + poor quality content + lack of innovation + treating customers like dog poop + treating artists like dog poop = fewer sales

 

[LordJezo]

Originally posted by: cavingjan
Its pretty bad when a DVD is getting to be cheaper than a CD. I still buy the same number of CDs I have in the past, not that many. I'd rather listen to the radio that to the same couple CDs over and over again.

Yeah, but I would much rather buy a movie for $20 then a cd. A cd has usually only a few tracks that I like while if I buy a movie its a good 2 hours of something I know that I will enjoy. And with all the extras and such on the DVD it is well worth the money that I spend.

And anyway, there are a whole lot more movies that I want to own then music right now. Almost everything is crap and I wont spend $18 for 3 songs.

 

[xospec1alk]

i bought the new ash cd, that came with a bonus dvd for all of 10 bucks....now, if all my fave artists were that cheap, i would buy more cds

 

[BD2003]

I'm glad to hear it. I hope the music industry starts taking a few more blows.

 

[Nemesis77]

Originally posted by: LordJezo

Originally posted by: cavingjan
Its pretty bad when a DVD is getting to be cheaper than a CD. I still buy the same number of CDs I have in the past, not that many. I'd rather listen to the radio that to the same couple CDs over and over again.

Yeah, but I would much rather buy a movie for $20 then a cd. A cd has usually only a few tracks that I like while if I buy a movie its a good 2 hours of something I know that I will enjoy. And with all the extras and such on the DVD it is well worth the money that I spend.

Damn straight! Something is seriously wrong when soundtrack of a movie costs almost as much as a DVD of the movie :Q!

 

[Codewiz]

If cd cost $5 then I would buy more but at $12-17, f$ck that. The only band I buy the cd for is Tool. That is because they also usually have cool artwork with the cd. Of course that isn't contributing much to the RIAA because they have only had 4 albums and a dvd boxset

 

[diskop]

Originally posted by: Nemesis77

Originally posted by: LordJezo

Originally posted by: cavingjan
Its pretty bad when a DVD is getting to be cheaper than a CD. I still buy the same number of CDs I have in the past, not that many. I'd rather listen to the radio that to the same couple CDs over and over again.

Yeah, but I would much rather buy a movie for $20 then a cd. A cd has usually only a few tracks that I like while if I buy a movie its a good 2 hours of something I know that I will enjoy. And with all the extras and such on the DVD it is well worth the money that I spend.

Damn straight! Something is seriously wrong when soundtrack of a movie costs almost as much as a DVD of the movie :Q!

If they want to charge $20 they better include some DVD like features, like music videos, interviews, and other specials.

 

[Martin]

Looks like more companies are doing what the RIAA is doing:

Ford wants ride sharing banned

 

[ElFenix]

Originally posted by: diskop

Originally posted by: Nemesis77

Originally posted by: LordJezo

Originally posted by: cavingjan
Its pretty bad when a DVD is getting to be cheaper than a CD. I still buy the same number of CDs I have in the past, not that many. I'd rather listen to the radio that to the same couple CDs over and over again.

Yeah, but I would much rather buy a movie for $20 then a cd. A cd has usually only a few tracks that I like while if I buy a movie its a good 2 hours of something I know that I will enjoy. And with all the extras and such on the DVD it is well worth the money that I spend.

Damn straight! Something is seriously wrong when soundtrack of a movie costs almost as much as a DVD of the movie :Q!

If they want to charge $20 they better include some DVD like features, like music videos, interviews, and other specials.

if they include all that crap theres less room for music. i feel cheated if theres less than an hour on there