Universal to lower CD prices

... Under the new pricing scheme, Universal would lower its wholesale price on a CD to $9.09 from $12.02. The company said it expected retail stores to lower CD prices to $12.98, from the $16.98 to $18.98 they now charge, and perhaps to as low as $10. When CD's first arrived on the market they cost $15.98, and have climbed from there. ...

full article

This is setting a great example for other record labels, and I think that I would definitely purchase CD's more often if the prices were indeed lower. Many pirates complain that prices are too high, but I think $9-$13 is definitely reasonable, considering all of the money spent for creating a CD.

It would help impulse buying.

if a cd was ten bucks instead of 20 I'd buy more.

I can remember when i realized that with a hundred dollars, I would be able to buy 4 cds (with tax my friends) and maybe a sample cd. which is just disturbing

This is really good news .

But I also have to agree with the fact that sales have gone down because of the consumer not being able to find what they want. I know for me thats always been a huge issue.

This almost makes me feel bad for DL ...

and in other news...

Quote:

Yesterday the RIAA quitely (for once) released their semi-annual stats on record sales. Once again they show the decline of the CD music format and once again the pace has accelerated.

The semi-annual stats stated that:
Total CD shipments were down 15.3% in unit terms.
unit sales for the year to date are down 8.5% from last year.
Over 100 store closures have taken place this year.

The RIAA key shipment decline figure has doubled to 15% from about 7% reported in the previous same period last year. The decline is slight above analysis expectations of a 14% CD decline this year.

Interestingly the RIAA included the closure of CD stores as well as P2P in their pointing the figure of blame. The RIAA say that CD store closures have numbered over 100 since the start of this year. Many retailers like Tower are constantly reducing their CD content.

If the next few sets of semi annual results indicate similar declines then there may be no choice but for the music CD format to go to the grave like many of its predecessors.

http://www.slyck.com/news.php?story=228

also, I've read something talking about the up-to-the-minute decline and it's down to 31% and Sherman is pointing the finger at P2P sharing while it's activity has dropped 22%.

Plus nobody has officially uttered "Boycott" as of yet. (i.e. get a clue!)

oh and CNN has had the nerve to report this!

Quote:

Study: CDs may soon go the way of vinyl
Video rental stores also on the way out, report says
By Jeordan Legon
CNN
Wednesday, September 3, 2003 Posted: 12:02 PM EDT (1602 GMT)

(CNN) -- In the 1950s, the revolution was all about rock 'n' roll. The 70s brought punk and disco. And sometime this decade, the rebellion shifted from the music genre to the digital domain.

Signaling a new era of media distribution, Forrester Research on Tuesday released a study predicting an even bigger drop in compact disc sales as Internet music file-sharing keeps gaining ground on the flagging CD.

Twenty years after its introduction, the CD is no longer hip. From 2001 to 2002, Nielsen SoundScan estimates that 62.5 million fewer were sold -- a 9 percent drop to 649.5 million. Plummeting CD sales have forced record shops to close. And the music industry is scrambling to lift sales -- fueling the growth of new digital music services and suing hard-core file sharers.

Downloadable future
Forrester's survey of 4,782 adults and 1,170 young people finds about 20 percent of all Americans download music from the Internet. Half of the downloaders say they're buying fewer CDs. The study forecasts that in five years, about a third of music sales will come from downloads, and CD sales will drop 30 percent from their 1999 peak.

"On-demand services are the future of entertainment delivery," said Josh Bernoff, principal analyst at Forrester. "CDs, DVDs, and any other forms of physical media will become obsolete."

The survey did find some bright spots for music executives. It shows that the industry might ultimately be helped by pursuing lawsuits against heavy file sharers. More than two out of three young downloaders told Forrester they'd stop if they risked jail or a fine.

At least 10 Windows-based music services are expected to emerge in the next nine months, the report said, and by the end of 2004, downloads and on-demand subscriptions may bring in $270 million. If the trend continues, three years from now digital music sales could account for $1.4 billion of the music industry's $12.8 billion in expected revenues.

Music companies are also trying new tactics to keep CDs alive. Last year, for example, Interscope gave a DVD to the first million shoppers who took home 'The Eminem Show' CD. They're also trying out new, more expensive technologies such as the super audio CDs and DVD audio, both of which profess to offer superior sound than the plain old CD.

"The CD is turning out to be a transitory sort of item," said Roy Trakin, senior editor of Hits magazine, a California-based tipsheet covering the music business. "The future of the CD may be in its enhanced content -- in a hybrid CD DVD and the more upscale formats like DVD audio and super audio CDs."

Movies, TV take note
The report urges movie and television companies to take notice of what's happening with music. One in five young file sharers has downloaded a movie, Forrester says, and among downloaders with more than 400 files, 70 percent had at least one video file.

In the coming years, growing access to digital video on-demand in U.S. homes and the hassle of late fees and trips to the store will push many customers away from video rental shops, Forrester says. By 2007, the research group estimates that video rental revenues at Blockbuster and q-Mart will drop 37 percent. And by 2008, overall revenues from DVDs and tapes will drop 8 percent.

"Consumers have spoken -- they are tired of paying the high cost of CDs and DVDs and prefer more flexible forms of on-demand media delivery," Bernoff said.

"Piracy and its cure -- streaming and paid downloads -- will drive people to connect to entertainment, not own it," the report concludes.

http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/ptech/0...ure/index.html

I guess if RIAA goes down, they're willing to take the CD format with them, what a bunch of wanks! :lol:

If CDs went down to $10 I would buy plenty more. Best Buy tends to sell some new CDs at $10 for a week or two, I have bought plenty on just curiosity alone, but would not have if they were $15. If they do lower prices I would imagine sales would go up, but I don't know if that would balance out everything.

I see this as a way to stem the losses our boy-cott is causing, but I'd say we just keep this up to make sure either something changes with the RIAA, or all it's members finally turn on them (HA!) and we get some new business practices that work in our favor.

CD sales can always come back later. ;)

well, if there wasn'tso much SHIT being released... oh sorry, we all already knew that.

It's about fucking time.

I'm still not buying any CDs until music worth buying comes out.

Quote:

Originally Posted by TobalRox

well, if there wasn'tso much SHIT being released... oh sorry, we all already knew that.

Bah, beaten to the punch. Oh well, I still stand by my original opinon. :chick: