The only good thing is that in The Netherlands everybody is switching to the new formats like sacd/ dvd. For me that is a great thing because the 2nd hand market in cd's is getting bigger and bigger. I only own a el cheapo dvd player, and a supermodified cd-80 so happy years will come again.
But the 'record industry' has to take notice, what is happening around them in the meantime. A lot of people don't own these players anymore and they put a lot of 'software' on hard drives and i'm not talking about 2mb.
But the 'record industry' has to take notice, what is happening around them in the meantime. A lot of people don't own these players anymore and they put a lot of 'software' on hard drives and i'm not talking about 2mb.
I think many people are no longer buying them because of the price. The record companies, however, seems to think the problem is MP3s and disc copying, so they spend lots of money trying to stop that (which, of course, they cannot possibly do), and subsequently drive up the cost of CDs even more to cover the lawyers' fees.
It's simply an unwillingness to admit reality and change.
It's simply an unwillingness to admit reality and change.
They charge that much because they can, acting as a cartel helps. They have been convicted of price fixing in past in U.S. Region coding is a particularly egregrious practice. If you tried to pull that stunt with any other goods youd be accused of unfair trade practices and have a WTO suit on your hands. Refining Industry Association of America says GBR should pay for aluminium in pounds what USA pays in dollars for aluminum because of the second u, riiiight.
An intresting corrollary, although in the case of legal pharmaceuticals the USA generally pays USA retail prices and its industry wants the rest of the world to too. It also wants to be sure US citizens pay US retail. For my own good as of last year I can no longer have my own doctor send a prescription to a licenced Canadian pharmacy selling a Canadian name brand FDA approved drug. This is to protect me from fraud and possibly lacking (but somehow still acceptable if imported by a wholesaler to US etc) yet meeting good manufacturing practices quality control. Also being in Canada seems to degrade US drugs somehow if they are reimported, maybe its from hockey exposure or something . Buts its ok for me to order from Figi with no script.
On other drugs
there is of course massive price fixing, quality control problems, and other shenanigans with the necessary help of enormous goverment effort and expenditure.
The record indutry is more worried about file sharing as a threat to its business model than of lost sales. The industry doesnt control it, unlike the payola radio that helps bring you homogenized boy bands. More sales are lost to actual pirates selling counterfeits. Not that you will ever hear the industry saying so. Sales may have been down slightly, but profits were up on high margins, and in a bad economy...
On other drugs
there is of course massive price fixing, quality control problems, and other shenanigans with the necessary help of enormous goverment effort and expenditure. The record indutry is more worried about file sharing as a threat to its business model than of lost sales. The industry doesnt control it, unlike the payola radio that helps bring you homogenized boy bands. More sales are lost to actual pirates selling counterfeits. Not that you will ever hear the industry saying so. Sales may have been down slightly, but profits were up on high margins, and in a bad economy...
I remember when I figured out that vinyl LPs that wear out was a joke. Why? After acquiring the LP, you listen to it maybe 6 to 12 times within a short span of time. Then you file it away and maybe listen to it twice a year if that. As time goes by, you've acquired enough LPs that you'd realistically never wear them out since you start listening to each one maybe once every couple years. The ticks and pops actually add to the nostalgia that you're listening to something from way back... nice.
I do miss my ritualistic practice:
Remove sleeve from jacket
Slide album gently from sleeve
Place on turntable
Dot and wipe cleaning fluid on Disc Cleaner
Clean LP with that gentle and graceful roll of the wrist
Listen away
Putting a cd on is just so, blah. Drop it in and listen. Hmm. Guess I need to build a phono stage...
Remove sleeve from jacket
Slide album gently from sleeve
Place on turntable
Dot and wipe cleaning fluid on Disc Cleaner
Clean LP with that gentle and graceful roll of the wrist
Listen away
Putting a cd on is just so, blah. Drop it in and listen. Hmm. Guess I need to build a phono stage...
kelticwizard, yeah, it's probably a bit odd. I got the CD player, an Arcam, about a year after I had gotten a DVD player. By then I had a couple of CDs I played on the Pioneer.
I worked in record store when the CD got its big breakthrough (Christmas of '89?). LPs cost 79 SEK (just increased from 74.50) and CDs 135, which quickly became 139. But I don't really complain about the price, one reason being that I mostly still pay 79 SEK. That's not the only reason, though. I don't mind spending money on a T-Model Ford or Einstürzende Neubauten CD. And, of course, the 20-bit remastered "Head Hunters" and "Time Out" CDs at 79 SEK a pop are steals for all I care. I wouldn't buy a Britney Spears CD at any price. THAT would be highway robbery.
It should be said that I don't spend all that much money on CDs since I already have most I want on vinyl. I have some 400 DVDs (probably not much more LPs than that) and only about 40 CDs. That my VCR went belly up at the time I got my DVD player (good riddance) and don't watch TV may be one explanation.
And to get back to my initial post. I buy sell-thru CDs here at prices that at least aren't higher than in the US. And that's AFTER the US dollar has lost more than 30 pct of its value compared to our currency. Since CDs haven't really gone up in price the last couple of years, CDs here used to be at least 30 pct cheaper than in the US. It's simply very difficult to compare prices across the pond.
WorkingAtHome, don't forget the hassle of having to turn the damn thing over ever so often. But I also think the routine makes listening to vinyl more rewarding. Listening to vinyl is a participatory and dedicated experience. Vinyl changes everything, or if it's the CD that changes everything. You rarely skip tracks on an LP. Maybe it's just the Christian moral of suffer now, reap your reward later in me that's speaking.
Sorry for the rant.
I worked in record store when the CD got its big breakthrough (Christmas of '89?). LPs cost 79 SEK (just increased from 74.50) and CDs 135, which quickly became 139. But I don't really complain about the price, one reason being that I mostly still pay 79 SEK. That's not the only reason, though. I don't mind spending money on a T-Model Ford or Einstürzende Neubauten CD. And, of course, the 20-bit remastered "Head Hunters" and "Time Out" CDs at 79 SEK a pop are steals for all I care. I wouldn't buy a Britney Spears CD at any price. THAT would be highway robbery.
It should be said that I don't spend all that much money on CDs since I already have most I want on vinyl. I have some 400 DVDs (probably not much more LPs than that) and only about 40 CDs. That my VCR went belly up at the time I got my DVD player (good riddance) and don't watch TV may be one explanation.
And to get back to my initial post. I buy sell-thru CDs here at prices that at least aren't higher than in the US. And that's AFTER the US dollar has lost more than 30 pct of its value compared to our currency. Since CDs haven't really gone up in price the last couple of years, CDs here used to be at least 30 pct cheaper than in the US. It's simply very difficult to compare prices across the pond.
WorkingAtHome, don't forget the hassle of having to turn the damn thing over ever so often. But I also think the routine makes listening to vinyl more rewarding. Listening to vinyl is a participatory and dedicated experience. Vinyl changes everything, or if it's the CD that changes everything. You rarely skip tracks on an LP. Maybe it's just the Christian moral of suffer now, reap your reward later in me that's speaking.
Sorry for the rant.
Unless, of course, it's the third pressing of Yes "Fragile" that pretty much provided the sound-track to my recollections of highschool. I should have just bought a second turntable for it alone.
If anyone needs to do a study of the effects of second hand bong smoke on vinyl surfaces, I may even have the those discs around yet.
Perspective
to prove a point made earlier in this thread.
The widest market here is for cassette tape (!) that sells at about $2.50. Prices for the most popular titles, Indian film music, are typically $1.
Prices of CDs for the same stuff is about $3-$4.
International releases replicated in India through an Indian plant (completely legal and under licence from the label), are about $5-$6. The quality is hit-and-miss, some titles are good whereas most are unlistenable.
Then there are the imports. Classical, Jazz, blues and vintage rock are all imported since the offtakes are small. Those cost between $8-$12, and some rare titles go all the way up to $20.
And finally, if you're ordering from Amazon, you pay full US price (the highest) + customs + tax, about 30% over the RP....
to prove a point made earlier in this thread.
The widest market here is for cassette tape (!) that sells at about $2.50. Prices for the most popular titles, Indian film music, are typically $1.
Prices of CDs for the same stuff is about $3-$4.
International releases replicated in India through an Indian plant (completely legal and under licence from the label), are about $5-$6. The quality is hit-and-miss, some titles are good whereas most are unlistenable.
Then there are the imports. Classical, Jazz, blues and vintage rock are all imported since the offtakes are small. Those cost between $8-$12, and some rare titles go all the way up to $20.
And finally, if you're ordering from Amazon, you pay full US price (the highest) + customs + tax, about 30% over the RP....
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