[kj] OT: Music industry - decline in CD sales

fatpotanga fatpotanga at gmail.com
Fri Jan 30 10:41:32 EST 2009


You mention gigs - I can see it resulting in more vibrant live scene
(with greater ticket prices to boot) & more self releases.
Maybe more of what NIN & radiohead did? Don't try & beat the downloads
(coz you can't) by offering releases for free & offset that loss by
ltd edition packages & more live work.
It's a loss initially, but it's also great initial self promotion
So, perhaps this is the dawn of the death of the record label, or at
least the dawn of the death of what a record label is/does/works/
operates/at/am/under/fruit/gauze.
Yes, I'm probably talking bollocks, but they're my half formed, badly
articulated off the top of my thumb-shaped head thoughts



On 30 Jan 2009, at 15:28, Brendan Quinn wrote:


> Do we have many people who work in the music industry on the list? I

> wanted to voice an opinion about the decline in CD sales.

>

> I read these articles all the time, on tech sites and general news,

> about the *terrible* decline in CD sales revenue and how it’s

> affecting Sony and Time Warner and Geffen and all the other music

> companies. And then I get into the comments section, and the thing

> that strikes me is…people seem to take the problem seriously. But I

> can’t really see a problem?

>

> Haven’t we all been bitching about record companies since the day

> dot? Artists and consumers alike? Aren’t they the toll-booth between

> legitimate artists and people who would benefit from their art?

> Don’t they artificially ratchet up the prices to consumers and down

> the prices to the artists, didn’t they charge more for CDs than

> cassettes despite cassettes costing more to make (50% premium is the

> price I remember paying in the late 80s / early 90s in NZ, $30+ vs

> $20). Don’t they develop these shit Britney Spears and boy bands

> that have no artistic merit whatsoever and pollute our youth with

> mediocrity and perpetuate these negative stereotypes? Didn’t we have

> to pay a small fortune to change the media format of our collections

> from records or cassettes to CDs, despite having – surely, already

> purchased the rights to the content? Why are they complaining that

> we’re getting a free ride in the current conversion? Haven’t the

> artists been complaining about being ass-raped by these guys ever

> since Motown records, or before?

>

> Okay, so piracy is illegal, a whole generation is getting stuff for

> free and artists are losing out. But are they really? Are they

> artists that tour? Because while my CD spend has all but dried up to

> a flaccid husk of its previous self, my gig spend has at least

> compensated, probably moreso, esp considering I have more disposable

> cash than when I was a destitute student and buying CDs. And if it’s

> a tough 5-10+ year transition into the digital age…well if we do

> away with the record company tax / toll-booth that sits in between

> artists and their audience – who cares? What did these guys do

> anyway? Did they scout talent that now won’t come to light? Ever

> heard of the internet? If I can hear about fucking ThumbMan (which

> admittedly brightened my life for a good 45 seconds), then I’m

> pretty sure I’ll her about the next Radiohead without Subpop telling

> me all about it.

>

> To me the main loss is the kids who are getting all this music for

> free and therefore fail to appreciate what it’s like to work a shit

> job and save up for a few weeks to get the latest Led Zep or to

> flesh out their Sabbath collection, walk home with a record burning

> a hole in their bag, and then listen to it the whole way through

> while looking at the artwork and smoking some oregano their mates

> sold them as hash and having the single best day of their lives

> until the lose their virginity, but I digress….

>

> People losing jobs isn’t nice to see, but that’s a whole different

> debate.

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