CD Purchase Gap Not Filled By Music Downloads

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A new report says that the percentage of Americans who bought CDs in the last six months fell 15% compared to 2002. Digital downloads are up but not enough to bridge the gap created by sagging CD sales.

"The increase in the number of digital music acquisition options, including on-demand downloading and easy unfettered copying, have slowly eaten away at consumer impulse music purchases -- thus creating a gap in revenue," he said. "Where in the past someone may have purchased a CD from a new or unfamiliar artist on a whim, they are increasingly more likely to digitally sample the music before deciding to make a full physical CD purchase."
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Do you suppose the fact that music (rock especially) has sucked for the last few years might have something to do with it.
 
Or 99% of the music I listen to these days is already free by release by musician/group.
 
Agreed. Maybe this will encourage artists to make better music and/or discourage record companies from pushing out garbage.
 
Ever since my whole collection of CDs was stolen years ago, I've only listened to MP3s and radio. Maybe if I didn't realize what a rip-off CDs had become, I would occasionally still buy them.
 
My reasons for not buying:

- I got XM radio
- I don't support artists when they hug Hugo Chavez or make other politically oriented statements/songs
- I don't support them jumping onboard with the RIAA
 
I think they missed a word or two in this quote...I added them back and it explains it all:

"Where in the past someone may have been totally screwed after they purchased a CD from a new or unfamiliar artist on a whim, they are increasingly more likely to digitally sample the music before deciding to make a full physical CD purchase"
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ICOM said:
Do you suppose the fact that music (rock especially) has sucked for the last few years might have something to do with it.
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Agreed. Most of my music collection is from the 90s. Very few songs I consider worth listening too are less than 5 years old.
 
Steve said:
I think they missed a word or two in this quote...I added them back and it explains it all:
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damn you steve, I was going to do something very similar to that. Stole my thunder :p

I used to have quite the collection of crap I wish I'd never bought. Just knowing I'd unwittingly supported a horrible band made me die a little inside, especially since I know a ton of bands out there who are much much better and will never get a record deal.
 
Or could it be that with the rising energy costs people have less discretionary income than in past years?

When it costs $50 + to fill up Ford Fusion (for example) people are going to start cutting back on ALL their impulse puchases.

Opportunity Cost - The RIAA should learn what it means.
 
ICOM said:
Do you suppose the fact that music (rock especially) has sucked for the last few years might have something to do with it.
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<sarcasm>The quality of the content ought to be independent of the revenue. </sarcasm>

I really cannot stand hearing the music industry whine anymore. If they don't like the market, they can just pack their bags up and go home. I won't be missing them.
 
A few weeks ago, I realized that I hadn't bought any CDs yet this year. For me at least, the problem was that I hadn't been exposed to unfamiliar bands/music that I enjoy. I stopped listening to terrestrial radio at least 15 years ago, so I'd been primarily buying new releases from bands that I knew or filling in their back catalog.

Then I started listening to www.pandora.com, made a bunch of channels there, and got turned onto a bunch of bands I hadn't heard of. Multiple CD purchases ensued.

And the RIAA wants to squash Internet radio. They have got to be the most clueless, head-up-the-bum organization in existence today.
 
I haven't bought a CD in a while because i haven't heard any music WORTH buying. So every once in a while when I hear it on XM is plenty enough for me.
 
Really...the only possible reason that CD sales could be down is due to rampant sharing of digital music. God knows no one ever swapped tapes in the 80s and early 90s.

Here are some other possible reasons:

-MTV (a huge boon to music sales in the 80s and early 90s) is gone...or at least it doesn't bother with music anymore.
-Radio doesn't take chances. Same 10 songs played over and over again all day every day.
-Record stores are out of business due to large retail megastores like Walmart, Fry's Electronics and Best Buy selling CDs as loss leaders.
-Large labels are too busy playing follow the leader and the blame game to notice that their product depth and quality is suffering
-New technologies are making old physical mediums (and the business models that rely on them) obsolete.


But sure. Blame your lack of sales on dirty dirty pirates! Nothing like blaming customers for your losses to boost sales!
 
I agree on the parts that most rock isn't rock anymore, it's more like pop or just flat out crap.

I haven't bought myself a retail channel (from best buy or such) CDs in 2+ years, i might hear 2 really good songs a year and thats it, I used to buy cd's thinking the cd would be really good but 9 times out of 10 it had 1, maybe 2 good songs and the rest of the cd was just filler.

I have bought my gf a couple of cd's over the last year, to be exact like 3 cd's, hinder, chris duaghtry, and justin timbelake, i think hinder might be the only good one there, but it got over played on the radio and then had some fool make that lips of a angel song in country, that really killed it for me!!!
 
No point in buyind a cd. They have one hit song played out on the radio and the rest of the songs suck or maybe one or two decent ones on the cd but it still doesn't justify buying a cd.
 
Does anybody else feel like the bands that aren't trying to make a living are the only ones making decent music any more?
 
S0m30n3 said:
No point in buyind a cd. They have one hit song played out on the radio and the rest of the songs suck or maybe one or two decent ones on the cd but it still doesn't justify buying a cd.
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I think you hit it spot on. It is the exact reason I stopped purchasing cds. I love how some bands and record labels get bent out of shape when people are pirating their cds. Maybe if the bands produced albums that had more than ONE decent song on it, people would actually pay for them.....what a thought. Like I am going to pay $15.00 for 1 song.
 
Phelptwan said:
Does anybody else feel like the bands that aren't trying to make a living are the only ones making decent music any more?
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Todays bands aren't in it for the music anymore, they are in for pussy, ass, tits, and money.
 
I squarely place the blame on all those dead people the RIAA tried to sue. I mean, it's not like they are driving to the music store to buy CD's or anything... :eek:
 
BoogerBomb said:
Todays bands aren't in it for the music anymore, they are in for pussy, ass, tits, and money.
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And this is exactly why only a handful of artists have made more than one album. They get the money from the CD then blow it all on drugs, women, cars, homes, and useless crap and become incapable of affording / getting any studio time.

Maybe if RIAA based these tools' salaries on numbre of hit songs as opposed to first week's music sales they'd keep more money and stop blaming piracy for imbecility. Naaah, wishful thinking. Too much is never enough for those bastards.
 
ICOM said:
Do you suppose the fact that music (rock especially) has sucked for the last few years might have something to do with it.
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I was thinking more like the last 15 years.........but maybe that is just me.:p
 
clement said:
I was thinking more like the last 15 years.........but maybe that is just me.:p
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Yeah, music has been sucking for a long, long time.. And they still don't realise it. Of course there is a sucker born every minute that will keep them hanging on long enough to endlessly bitch about sales being down, and sue everybody and thier grandma.
 
yagisencho said:
A few weeks ago, I realized that I hadn't bought any CDs yet this year. For me at least, the problem was that I hadn't been exposed to unfamiliar bands/music that I enjoy. I stopped listening to terrestrial radio at least 15 years ago, so I'd been primarily buying new releases from bands that I knew or filling in their back catalog.

Then I started listening to www.pandora.com, made a bunch of channels there, and got turned onto a bunch of bands I hadn't heard of. Multiple CD purchases ensued.

And the RIAA wants to squash Internet radio. They have got to be the most clueless, head-up-the-bum organization in existence today.
Click to expand...

I'm in the same situation here. I hadn't bought a CD in years (garage sales don't count) since the new music has basically sucked. I started listening to Pandora and found a band I liked enough to buy their CD. HELLO, RIAA, if it wasn't for Internet Radio I wouldn't ever hear of decent new bands, since you idiots over at the Megalopolis Megacorp don't play anything new and innovative anymore on the radio.

People aren't as stupid as the RIAA thinks they are. Given the chance to sample before buying, they will. If they like THAT song, they may buy it online. Why buy the whole CD full of 2 good songs and 8 fillers, if you can just buy the good ones? It's like having to buy 4 bags of Cheetos to get the one bag of Doritoes you wanted. Stupid. People will just go elsewhere and buy the bag of Doritoes from a seller who isn't so restrictive.

Then there is the fact that alot of people have much less disposable income than they used to, due to rising energy/gas costs. Most of the pain is self-inflicted, IMHO, but they still bitch constantly about it. Of course they still buy their junk food, cigs and Lotto tickets so I guess they are still in their comfort zone. :)
 
Nobody has the money to buy CDs anymore, it's all going to their defense fund whether they actually downloaded anything or not...

ICOM said:
Do you suppose the fact that music (rock especially) has sucked for the last few years might have something to do with it.
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Pretty sure that is exactly it, I listen to mostly Hip-Hop and there hasn't been a big release in a while. There are some albums coming this year that should pick up sales but so far this year and the end of last year there has been very little even with the more popular hot garbage that seems to sell so well.

The last 2 CDs I bought were from smaller labels not under the RIAA umbrella. It's one reason the RIAA hates digital distribution, they can't control it. They don't want you to find music you like, they want to dictate what music you like. So they'll scream when sales are down to justify their actions but if they pick back up you won't hear a word.
 
The last CD I bought was "X&Y" album from Coldplay. The funny part was finding out that the radio single, Speed of Sound, is probably the weakest of all the songs on the album. A nice surprise I guess, but other than Coldplay most bands don't warrant a purchase.

The rest of my music, e.g. trance/house has tons of 'net radio stations to feed the need. D.I. all the way :)
 
ICOM said:
Do you suppose the fact that music (rock especially) has sucked for the last few years might have something to do with it.
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There's your answer music industry! I'd go even further an say it has really sucked (in general) for the last 10+ years. Quit force feeding us Britney wannabe's, talentless rock/pop groups, and music-less rap. I can go downtown on any given evening and see (listen) to many great bands and artists. They are out there, but the record companies can't get beyond their antiquated formulas.
 
I tend to buy movie soundtracks now since I tend to get at least 70-80% good tracks from ~8-10 artists. Therefore my CD "purchaes" would be down by ~80-90%.

I think the RIAA needs to realize that people aren't dumb like they think we are.
 
Vryce said:
Here are some other possible reasons:

-MTV (a huge boon to music sales in the 80s and early 90s) is gone...or at least it doesn't bother with music anymore.
-Radio doesn't take chances. Same 10 songs played over and over again all day every day.
-Record stores are out of business due to large retail megastores like Walmart, Fry's Electronics and Best Buy selling CDs as loss leaders.
-Large labels are too busy playing follow the leader and the blame game to notice that their product depth and quality is suffering
-New technologies are making old physical mediums (and the business models that rely on them) obsolete.
Click to expand...

Spot on reasoning there but incomplete. Add the following.

-Many retail outlets and online outlets have gotten into the used CD market, making those 1-2 good songs not worth $17 anymore.

-The aging of america. In 1990 the median age was about 32, in 2001 it was about 36. Older people buy less music, and it has been that way for a long time.

-Deliberate boycott. RIAA started pissing off people WAY back with their attacks on OLGA and have only gotten much worse and target more portions of the market. I'd gladly pay for the product i want, but they won't sell it to me. Be it guitar tab, sheet music, or high quality ala-carte digital audio in a format of my choosing. Used to buy about 3 CDs a month. Now it's about 3 a year, if that, and i only buy direct from the artists.

-basic math skills. The CD collection in my livingroom, largely amassed between the ages of 17-26, Cost in the neighborhood of $9800 reatil. These days I can just pirate it and if I get caught, it'll cost me $3500 from the RIAA settlement-o-tron and I'm all legal like. It only makes good economic sense to rip off music.

BoogerBomb said:
Todays bands aren't in it for the music anymore, they are in for pussy, ass, tits, and money.
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What planet have you been on? Musicians have ALWAYS been in it for the pussy. ALWAYS. Especially the ones not in it for money.
 
the only CDs that I have bought in the last 5 or so years has been nothing but movie soundtracks. At least they are still somewhat original
 
raz-0 said:
-The aging of america. In 1990 the median age was about 32, in 2001 it was about 36. Older people buy less music, and it has been that way for a long time.
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So does that mean by 2011 the median age will be 40? That means I will be older than half the people in the country. Fuck. Suddenly this topic has become very depressing. :( :eek:
 
I haven't bought a CD in years. Hell I still have an unused $25 gift card from christmas:p I refuse to support an industry that sees its sales slipping and so makes a living of suing its consumers, fuck that. I'll pay to see bands live but that's about it at this point.
 
Burning_Monk said:
Maybe everyone is listening to internet radio? Well, for right now anyway...

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18384667/site/newsweek/
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I can't speak for anyone else, but when I'm listening to Internet Radio, I tend to buy more (much more) music, not less. I can't think of a single song I've downloaded in the last 6 months, but I'm also unsure I've bought any CD's (though I have a few on the list to pick up this weekend). I'm pretty sure if I'd been listening to Internet radio, they'd have sold a few more....maybe I should listen more ;)

I think that one needs to look at what Baby Boomers are buying. The not so well kept secret to the 90's boom is that it was largely fueled by Boomers replacing all their favorite records with CDs.

Nobody talks about it, but the CD boom was DYING by 1996, and the only reason it turned around is because of the HUGE boom from boy bands like N*Sync, as well Britney and N*Sync.

Piracy may be making it worse, but it was going to happen. Time once spent listening to music may be spent playing games, watching DVDs, or some other form of entertainment that wasn't available in the past.
 
Music today sucks, I have no interest in American Idol crap and Greatest hits compilations that have been remastered for the 3rd time.

I go to the store to buy CD's but cant find anything worth buying.

The last CD I bought was this week, Hard-FI - CCTV that was worth it!
 
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