Couldn't happen to a nicer bunch of people : http://www.njo.com/newsflash/entert..._2002MusicSales&&news&newsflash-entertainment
The thing is, there is good music out there. But The Industry prefers to push safer but inferior artists like Avril Lavigne and Nelly upon us. I'm not sure if I'm in the minority, but while I download most of my music, if someone puts together a decent album, I'll spend my $13.99 + tax.
Therein lies the problem...they're raising prices to keep the high salaries for the exec's while sales are down. Most major label "marquee" artists full length CD's list for about $18.99 plus tax.
Rosen said the industry hopes to reverse the decline next year by cracking down more aggressively on free music Web sites, and better promoting the fee-based downloading services offered by record companies. do it... i don't care, more will pop up faster than you can say 'music.' but.... "There's no question that the availability of free music on the Internet is not having the stimulative effect that the proponents of this piracy suggest," she said Friday. if they say it'll happen, and it doesn't, then it suggests something may be bogus.
God I love seeing these pigs cry out about how they're the victims. I'm perfectly fine with the rising costs of concerts, make the bands work for their money. And also the money goes to the band, not the record label. But they've exploited us for far too long. Lower the cost of your 2-cent CD's to $5 and I gaurantee you at least 2 more people will buy the CD for every one that is already buying it. You people are complete idiots if you continue to raise prices, yeah... like that is going to motivate us to go out and buy CD's you retards. "What is piracy? Piracy is the act of stealing an artist's work without any intention of paying for it. I'm not talking about Napster-type software. I'm talking about major label recording contracts." - Courtney Love
I dunno, good question. Of course all the "convinience charge" money goes to those bastards, but I've been going to tons of concerts steadily for the past 7-8 years and seeing a concert priced at $30+ was an annomaly back then but now it's pretty standard for bigger shows. Rapemasters "convinience" charge's have also gone up a lot too. when I was a teenager then were only about $3-4, but I just paid $8 for a Paul Oakenfold ticket a few months back. Bastards.
every cd that comes out nowadays is enhanced in some way thats their way of getting people to buy the album. They tell you on the cover of the cd to use it as a key to unlock enclusive content on the web. Intersting way to stop piracy but it won't work most of the enhanced and exclusive stuff they offer is lame.
Hmmm... The concentration of the music industry into just a few gigantic record companies that leads to them all playing it safe by signing only cookie cutter bands putting out boring, LCD copycat music that sucks? Naaaaaah. It must be those nasty ol' Web pirates! Yeah, that's the ticket.
I agree. A $20 ticket to a Jeff TWeedy concert becomes over $30 when all the fees are added, and when the first two shows sell out in under an hour, you're stuck using TM if you want to go.
Maybe they could drop the prices of albums if they stopped putting up 50 foot tall adverts in Manhattan, I'm sure those are really cheap. Secondly, thumbs up to Elektra Records for allowing one of their artists, Phish, to start selling downloads in either MP3 or SHN format. I'm probably going to start another thread about this, not so much about the particular band, but just because it's so freaking revolutionary. Anyway you can now buy a Phish concert two days after it happens. You can buy it in MP3 format for around $10 or in SHN for around $12 depending upon the show (The price for their New Year's Eve show was bit higher as it was much longer.) go to: http://www.livephish.com/ Maybe these record industry tools will figure out one day that if you treat your fans like people, they will support you.
One of my buddies calls it "the Mass appeal". If you're told that this is "so cool", then sooner or later you'll believe it. Pretty much the record execs are aiming at the yougner kids anyway. Problem is, IMO, the kids these days know a lot more about downloading and getting around all that stuff than I do. Then, what happened with me is that my tastes certainly change, and I liked certain styles and sounds. Brittney, Christina, Enrique just don't get it to me and my stereo. Those guys though have been gauging customers for year. THe big labels always have. They've even been taken to court over price fixing and charging astronomical prices for cd's that barely cost 10 cents to mass produce. There is good music out there. You just have to look a bit harder than before.
The majors (record labels) can crash & burn for all I care. Let's see more of that Virgin-signs-Mariah Carey-for-bezillion dollars and then dissolve her contract because of her tired ass. Then maybe the radio airwaves will not be littered by "play it safe, by the book" music. There are new sounds out there; many just don't know because they're on indie labels. Meanwhile, Tower & HMV will be advertising the Best of the Rolling Stones volume XXXX and another That's what I call music. Notice how Norah Jones had been marketed just about everywhere - does her talents justify her publicity ?? The best thing anyone can do is boycott the stupid American Music Awards, or the MTV awards, or the Worst of the creme-de-la-creme: The Grammys. This is my ultimate battle cry against artistic mediocrity !!