[Huck]

They are so wedded to their disc creations that they've forgotten the concept of giving the market what it wants, and making a profit at the same time.

In this case, the public wants free music. Not a lot of profitability in that.

[kingu]

In this case, the public wants free music. Not a lot of profitability in that.

Ask the blank CD makers if there is money in free music, or the makers of MP3 players, or the makers of disc writers.. I'm sure they'll tell you there is plenty of profit involved. There are millions of downloads from iTunes, with people paying for each song, but that number should have been in the billions - the reason why it is not is that they're pricing themselves too highly. 60 cents wholesale per song is what most companies are paying the labels, they're making more money per song using this method than in a physical disc sold in a store.

The public will pay reasonable prices; it is called 'what the market will bear.' Mass licenses are the best answer, the second best is to offer prices that are more in line with production costs. Most home users know that it costs less than a dollar to produce a disc.