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CD Sales Continue To Fall

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CD sales continue to fall in the U.S., down by 20% compared to last year. Digital album sales were down as well but the sales of single songs rose sharply. No surprises here.

Eighty-nine million CDs were sold from the start of the year through March 18 as compared with 112 million CDs sold during the same period in 2006, according to figures released Wednesday by industry tracker Nielsen SoundScan.
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Shitty music. Not much more that needs to be said here.


Single songs rose sharply? Please somone... buy the RIAA a clue.
 
Ockie said:
Shitty music. Not much more that needs to be said here.


Single songs rose sharply? Please somone... buy the RIAA a clue.
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<beging stupid comment>

Oh no!!! Its that deg gum Intronet that lets everyone download songs for free thats the problem!!! Maybe RIAA could sue Al Gore for inventing it!!!!!!! </end stupid comment>
 
The only reason the RIAA made a profit last year was all the John Doe lawsuit settlements. Crappy ass music combined with cartel like DRM schemes isn't going to curb piracy, but help promote it.
 
[LYL]Homer;1030803514 said:
RIAA is biting the hand that feeds it, no wonder sales are down.
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They already bit the arm off that had the hand that feed them. :eek:
 
Ockie said:
Shitty music. Not much more that needs to be said here.
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AgreedT.

I quit listening to mainstream music a couple years ago. It all seamed to sound the same.

Now I support my local bands, shows are a lot cheaper, :). It also leaves me with money for other stuff that make the show even more enjoyable, :D .
 
So... If this all works out that the RIIA orgs actually try to become competitive like business instead of suing everyone... naaah.. Won't happen.
 
I blame the producers and record labels more than the RIAA. They're the ones who let this crap go through. Most songs start in the studio. Forced filler. How about more bands have short CDs and EPs released. I'd rather spend $5 on a short CD with all good songs than $12-15 on a "full-length" album with some great, some good, and some bad.

Plus, there aren't that many really good audio engineers/mixers. Only a handful of albums are produced really well.
 
Its also hard to justify spending anywhere from $10 to$15 for a CD when a new DVD release costs $15. Charging $5 a CD makes more sense. Heck, when I used to buy tapes, it was $6.99 at Tower Records and I thought that was expensive until the "new" CD's started to arrive at a $15 price point. At that time it was explained that the new media was expensive to produce, and that over time this price would drop. Fast Forward 23 years and its still the same if not more for music.
 
MrE said:
Its also hard to justify spending anywhere from $10 to$15 for a CD when a new DVD release costs $15..
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To me it makes more sense for the music to cost more, I get more use out of it. A movie I might watch 2-3 times at most, whereas the music I'll usually listen to many more times. As far as the media costs, CDs and DVDs cost almost nothing to manufacture these days. Back when people still bought music a lot on tapes, they were cheaper than CDs, but CDs were actually cheaper to make.
 
I wish somone from the inside would shed some light on how much disk replication for the music industries costs including all logistics... basically end shelf cost.

I have the feeling it is in the pennies per cd.
 
I'm not sure what the base cost is, but I know back when I worked at Best Buy and could look up item costs, the CDs ranged from 6.99 to 8.99 in cost. I can't see how that cost could be much different now versus then (about 10-12 years ago is when I worked there), in fact I'm sure with manufacturing improvements the cost should be even lower by now.
 
FalseGod said:
I'm not sure what the base cost is, but I know back when I worked at Best Buy and could look up item costs, the CDs ranged from 6.99 to 8.99 in cost. I can't see how that cost could be much different now versus then (about 10-12 years ago is when I worked there), in fact I'm sure with manufacturing improvements the cost should be even lower by now.
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Thats retail at cost prices, you still have a distributer, factory, and the media tycoons chipping off their profits.

I want to see the actual cost of producing a CD and putting it on the shelf in terms of expenses paid by the media industry.
 
Found an interesting tidbit:

Between 1983 and 1996, the average price of a CD fell by more than 40%. Over this same period of time, consumer prices (measured by the Consumer Price Index, or CPI) rose nearly 60%.
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I think people have hit on many of the problems.

1) Many people are tired of the whole RIAA cartel attitude. Lots of digital piracy is a response to their attitude. Not saying any piracy is right, but this is the way of things.

2) The industry has really fallen into the rut of only having 1 or 2 good songs on an album. This is not a new problem (it happened in the 60's and 70's as well) but most eras seemed to have a few albums escaped this problem. These days I think the industry people would tell the people to hold some of the good songs for another album to help spread things out. Though there are some obscure outlets that do it, playing a whole album from beginning to end seems to be a foreign concept these days. Many people just download the "buzz tune" and move on. Those with "band loyalty" are more rare than ever, unless we are talking about a local band.

3) Tired music forms - There hasn't been a truly new music scene to get people excited in a while (at least that I've seen). Rap/hip-hop has lost most of it's buzz. Current pop music makes the Monkees look innovative. Rock seems to be waiting for some new howl from the wilderness to help energize it (e.g. the long dead "grunge").
 
Based on my experiences putting out releases by my own bands - which is not in any way an experience that a band on a major label will have:

As an individual, you can get very fancy CDs made w/ a 4 panel 4 color insert, tray card, silkscreened CD, jewel case & shrink wrap and at 1000 CDs you might be looking at around $4/CD.

However, with a big label release you've got all the other costs - producer, studio time, promotion, artwork fees, etc.

Still, when you get to 10,000 or so CDs, the cost won't be much more than $4 - $5 per CD, double that for a selling price and you get $8 to $10. That seems like a reasonable price for a CD, to me.

And the kicker, the artists get a pitiful part of that, maybe 7% if they've got a good lawyer. That's like 70 cents from a $10 CD. Ouch. Unless you're a killer band, that's gonna put you in the hole from the "advance" the label gives you - most bands that are inexperienced get the business end of the shaft because of these kinds of deals.
 
GJSNeptune said:
Wonder how sharply the sales would increase if CDs cost $5 a pop.
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I play in a startup metal band, and even us as indies couldn't afford to record a well recorded full length (10-12) song album if we sold them for 5 bucks a pop. That's what we plan on selling our upcoming 3 song promo for, but studio time is expensive, and if you don't much much about the production end, having to use a engineer for the tracking/mixing/mastering brings that up even more. The majors, moving large amounts, could pull it off, but no small town local could survive if pricing were that low.
 
Not even a dollar to produce the disc with the music on it, but there are royalties to factor in. I wanna know the price after royalties. Who gets the biggest chunk? Obviously it'll vary by artist, record label, distributor, etc.
 
pigwalk said:
I play in a startup metal band, and even us as indies couldn't afford to record a well recorded full length (10-12) song album if we sold them for 5 bucks a pop. That's what we plan on selling our upcoming 3 song promo for, but studio time is expensive, and if you don't much much about the production end, having to use a engineer for the tracking/mixing/mastering brings that up even more. The majors, moving large amounts, could pull it off, but no small town local could survive if pricing were that low.
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Correct, but I don't think people mind paying extra for a small town local band... however, the mass produced songs coming from major artists and the recording studios costs pennies to make as they have their own studios, own equipment, staff, etc...
 
pigwalk said:
I play in a startup metal band, and even us as indies couldn't afford to record a well recorded full length (10-12) song album if we sold them for 5 bucks a pop. That's what we plan on selling our upcoming 3 song promo for, but studio time is expensive, and if you don't much much about the production end, having to use a engineer for the tracking/mixing/mastering brings that up even more. The majors, moving large amounts, could pull it off, but no small town local could survive if pricing were that low.
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Oh I know. The goal isn't to make money from the CDs though. It should be to spread awareness. You have day jobs, don't you?

Lucky me, my brother has a post-production setup at a local studio. He gets the room for free as long as he lets the owner use his more modern equipment. :D
 
pigwalk said:
I play in a startup metal band, and even us as indies couldn't afford to record a well recorded full length (10-12) song album if we sold them for 5 bucks a pop. That's what we plan on selling our upcoming 3 song promo for, but studio time is expensive, and if you don't much much about the production end, having to use a engineer for the tracking/mixing/mastering brings that up even more. The majors, moving large amounts, could pull it off, but no small town local could survive if pricing were that low.
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Exactly. But you could probably do it for $10. It's hard enough being a small band getting ripped off by bar owners, shouldn't undercut yourself on the CDs.
 
GJSNeptune said:
Oh I know. The goal isn't to make money from the CDs though. It should be to spread awareness. You have day jobs, don't you?

Lucky me, my brother has a post-production setup at a local studio. He gets the room for free as long as he lets the owner use his more modern equipment. :D
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Awareness? Maybe as a hobby band for fun, but if you're serious about it you'll want to make a bit of coin on the CDs to fund the band, recording, van, tour, and production of more CDs, etc. $5 might have cut it for cassettes back in 1992, but nowadays a 10 spot is more right on, at least most of the touring small label / indie bands I see are around that.
 
okra said:
Exactly. But you could probably do it for $10. It's hard enough being a small band getting ripped off by bar owners, shouldn't undercut yourself on the CDs.
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You gotcha, most of the points are correct here. And yes we have day jobs, but they don't do much if you plan on touring, and that we do. At 10 bucks a CD, we can make a buck and the price is attractive enough (as much as the cost of 2 beers in a bar!) that people will jump. If Sony and Virgin or whoever else starting having all their CD's at 5 bucks a pop, then 10 bucks a pop for a local doesn't seem so hot.

And truthfully, the internet is going to do more for awareness than a CD will, I'll be sure to have all out tracks up on our page/myspace/wherever so anyone who can hear it will and hopefully it attracts them to the shows.
 
I wanted to buy a CD the other day and the only music store I could find in the directory was miles away.
There used to be three within walking distance of where I work, now there are a few books stores and some department stores that carry some CDs. none of them carry the stuff I listen to though.
I like to walk into a record store, get the music I want to listen to NOW and pop it in the CD player in the car on the way home.
Online CD sales won't give me my fix. By the time I get the thing I'm wanting something else.
Online file sales suck too, I don't want a single file tied to a single brand of player.
I want a compilation of music that I can listen to where and when I want, and I want it now.
I'll happily pay $15 for that and the record stores that don't exist any more used to fill that billet.

Also, if I can do it, I buy only from artists not associated with RIAA.

As a result I've bought maybe one CD in the last 4 years.
 
Supply and Demand. Demand is low, stop pumping out shit, invading genres and commercializing them and ruining it. Stop the me too water down copy cats. Their all whores.
 
Who the hell wants to buy CD's when the RIAA wants to sue every living human's pants off. Screw CD's, I'll listen to Sirius and the Radio.
 
Evil said:
Who the hell wants to buy CD's when the RIAA wants to sue every living human's pants off. Screw CD's, I'll listen to Sirius and the Radio.
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And I am pretty sure the Recording Industries stance on suing its customer base is starting to hit home with the general public. They (the public) are more aware of whom RIAA represents, and its not the artists but the recording industry themselves. What RIAA should bear witness too is the power of people fighting back by buying individual songs instead of albums of crap. Picking and choosing is not the model RIAA built up over the past 40 or so years. Their model existed to sell albums, and not singles. Remember buying a 45rpm single? Even singles were $2 back in the early 80s. No, the dinosaurs that sue old ladies and crippled veterans are not recording artists. They are the same type of lawyer that chases ambulances after an accident. This time though, we are wise to their game. ;)
 
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