How Much Are You Willing To Pay For CD's...

[dgmodel]

have cd prices gone insane??? or are they right in line with consumer perception of what they should cost???

[rdancer]

5-10$

[mssabina]

i can't remember the last time i actually bought a cd... but i think anything over $13-$14 is too much...

[Xpander]

Just singles? I'll pay up to $15 for a good one. $20 if it's REALLY special.

Then there're double CDs, triple CDs, etc...

[os9]

I think peer-2-peer file sharing is something I'm glad to have taken advantage of but something that should die soon. But the record companies should quit their fucking crying about it cuz it's no wonder people settle for free when the CD's are jacked up in price way beyond the point of jusitification. The prices are complete donkey ball licking, shit eating, retard fucking bullshit. The record companies bitching is like if Poland Springs started charging 8 dollars for a 20 ounce bottle of water then complained when people stopped buying their shit and began drinking tap water instead. Maybe not a perfect analogy but you understand.

I've heard rumors of a class action suit against the record company and even of a settlement but don't know much about it. I don't understand how a CD can cost more than a cassette tape. Yes, the CD sounds better and lasts longer but the tape must cost way more to manufacter and duplicate. None of it makes any fucking sense. I haven't bought a CD in a long time and will continue to download as much free music as possible, buying only the CD's of artists I really, really like.

[georgym]

I remember going to Tower and getting cd's for $11.99. All the time. Now they have gone up to 15-20$

Insane. it costs something like $2 to make a cd. these record companies are making way too much. Thank god for downloading online

[rocksteadyct]

I think 10 bucks is too much.....

If cds were 6-9 bucks i would buy just about anything that i kinda liked just because i like music. But the companies are fucking themself cus i dont buy anything but imports now anyways and download anything i can. And to show that i would easily pay that kind of money, i already pay 9-14 bucks for used DVD's cus thats how much they should cost. I dont buy new ones they are too expensive, but i have like 80 dvds. Just drop the damn price already

[elementx]

Single, double, triple pack...

Secondly I think some of the imports are worth a higher price due to costs of overseas shipping and all...

[djmikedr]

Actual Prices on a past Michael Jackson Album:

per copy cost:

Vinyl $ .78 each

Tape $ .52 each

CD $ .35 each

so how the fuck does a CD cost double a cassette?

[klohe]

I've paid up tp $42

[dialectics]

Originally posted by gmccookny

Insane. it costs something like $2 to make a cd. these record companies are making way too much.

Much less then that - in the late 80's, it cost < $.90 @ to bulk print a CD.

As an avid file trader but also an aspiring musician i think i can see both sides of the debate.

1) CDs are way too fucking expensive. There is no way i'm going to shell out $20 for a CD if there are going to be three singles that get played out on the radio and 8 tracks put together just on time to make the pressing deadline.

Nobody is going to experiment or buy an album that might be interesting or has cool artwork or something you've heard about if it means dropping an hours salary for a little plastic disc that will get scratched or dusty.

2) Record labels take an extrordinary risk when sponsoring an album. For every artist they sign, the artists get $250,000 studio/legal/living advance plus another $250,000 on marketing.

Only 1 in every 8 albums recoup that cost. In other words, the gross take from that one album will have to be $2,000,000 just for the record label to stay afloat.

An artist that is not the songwriter will only get paid once their $250,000 advance is paid off by album sales, which means that they will have to sell over 200,000 albums before seeing a single penny. The artist gets money through two avenues: merchandising (why touring is so important) and by being the songwriter. as the songwriter, they get royalties off of every cd sale, even before the 250k is paid back.

A beautiful girl just walked by hold on while i stare at her. Mmmm....

So by overly simple math, profit = num units sold * (sale price - marginal cost) - fixed cost > $2,000,000.

Thus the record companies have two options to make a profit:

1) increase the price of CDs and assume the same people will buy it

2) decrease the cost of CDs and assume that the demand at a lower price will be much higher.

If amerika was really a free market, some record labels would choose option 1, and others would choose option 2 - and in that scenario the higher priced labels will be forced to lower their prices. However because of the collusion mentioned by other posters, we just have do deal with "filesharing is reason we're going under", while ignoring the prohibitive cost of purchasing cds as well as the masses' general disdain for crap music, being treated like criminals or target markets, or lack of foresight to update outmoded business models. There are enough ignorant idiots who believe that spending $20 on CDs is acceptable in the general case, and not something reserved for discs of special significance (like that 2cd set from the show you were at in amsterdam or....). That apathy on behalf of the consumer is what drives cd prices up... because hey if people are buying, there is no motivation to lower prices.

So record labels are a combination of three things:

1) risk takers who should be applauded for their efforts

2) scamsters who make excuses instead of music

3) practical merchants who charge what people are willing to pay.

As the liberal side of my political leanings has been slowly replaced by jaded practicality and the innefectual weakness of the divided left against the face of the machine which could be right if the cogs weren't so despicable, i'm a little reluctant to say this, but i will:

THE ONLY WAY TO STOP THE RISING PRICES IN CDS IS TO STOP BUYING THEM. You, your friends, your friend's friends, your entire neighborhood. every bbs you post to. grass roots boycott. do not buy any cds if the price is too high. otherwise, the record labels will have no reason not to charge $20 a CD. the masses must speak with their wallets because its the only language profit makers understand.

wow that was a nice distraction from working

peaz,

rob

[dialectics]

Originally posted by apotheosis

so how the fuck does a CD cost double a cassette?

because people are willing to pay more for the CD

[os9]

Great post, dialectic.

I don't know where the following fits in but...

The music business is notoriously shady. Hollywood is known for their incredibly creative accounting practices but I've heard that in the entertainment biz nobody rapes more ass than the music industry. Film and TV operate in almost exactly the same way as the music industry in that every new creative endeavor is lumped together. The money that's lost from 15 different BioDomes are recouped by one Star Wars movie. It's all lumped together and the movie studio is hoping that in the end they'll come out ahead. It's really how all business is done.

So why do I feel as if the insurance, pharmaceutical, and music industries are fucking us the hardest. The record industry bitching about people burning CD's and downloading free music is like the pharmaceuticals complaining about terminally ill people buying "illegal" generic knockoff drugs to save their own life. It's complete bullshit. It's like a robber beating you up for having the nerve to try to escape.

I feel for the smaller independent labels but, really, peer 2 peer doesn't really affect them and, in fact, they're usually the ones that support downloading (publicity is publicity).

I don't really know what I'm trying to say. Basically I see the big record labels as self-appointed kings and queens demanding an unreasonable tax from us peasants. It's time to overthrow the kings. Greedy bastards.

[jjcbebe]

Well I for one, rarely buy cd's. about 99% of my collection is copied cd's I burn my friends cd's.

I buy a cd once in awhile, liek if i hear it online and i really like it.

But its funny because just today i was thinking that cd's cost a lot.

And this is me, I consider myself a big spender, but $20 for a cd is a lot to me.

there are a lot of cd's i would have bougtht had they been like $11 .

In the last year, i honestly only bought one cd, and it was one of the Sounfactory Cd's