As many join burning boom, CD sales slide

The Boston Globe ^ | 4/7/2003 | Hiawatha Bray

[Radix]

With war and recession on everyone's mind, perhaps music would bring some cheer. So why aren't people buying?

Recorded music sales are falling fast. Worldwide CD sales fell 10 percent last year, and the new chief of Sony Music says they could tumble another 15 percent in 2003. Major retailers like Best Buy Inc. are shutting down hundreds of record stores.

[Radix]

I have no sympathy for the Recording Industry

[Sir Gawain]

As many join burning boom As CDs continue to suck and be overpriced, CD sales slide

[Hodar]

Arrrgh! I hate it when only 1 side of a problem is presented.

We are in a depression, approximately 500,000 tech jobs have gone away in the past 2 years. Stock market has crashed, and we are at war. So, a lot of people have LESS income, and even less disposable income.

Now, with my $20 of disposable income, I can either buy a CD, or a DVD. DVD sales are up over 300% from last year. Go figure.

[Snardius]

Some pricing reality finally reaches the music industry.

[Dimensio]

Interesting. Sliding CD sales are blamed on MP3 sharing and CD burning even though sales didn't drop until the economy started going downhill. CD sales were increasing steadily until then, even though Napster was alive and kicking at the time and CD burners were already ubiqutious.

Unfortunately, there are enough stupid lawmakers willing to believe the lies of the RIAA.

[tdadams]

So I guess you feel it's justified to steal product from an industry you disapprove of to the point of putting them out of business. Who knew there were socialist thugs on FR?

[CathyRyan]

The music coming out today is just not very good. I would not pay the price of a blank CD for most of it.

[FredZarguna]

Music Sales are falling because today's music s*cks, period. It has nothing to do with technology. Most people don't know that the RIAA opposed over the air broadcasting of music on radio in the 1930's, which led to the explosion in popular recording.

These clowns need to get behind a new business model that exposes the public to talented artists instead of products annointed by a bunch of idiots with no taste. Music sales would be promoted, not suppressed, by the widespread "free" publication of quality tunes.

[MudPuppy]

the majority of music CD's are so overpriced it's ridiculous.
When I do buy a CD I make copies for my kids, my car, work, etc.
It's rare that I break down and pay for something I can listen to for free on the radio...

[MattinNJ]

BTTT for later read

[aruanan]

I've had a great deal of enjoyment importing my CDs and then making my own compilations. I just finished four volumes of WoW favorites, four volumes of Foreign Delights, and 6 volumes of Os Hits Mais Grandes Da Musica Popular Brasileira.

[O.C. - Old Cracker]

Where was the outcry from the recording industry when hardware manufacturers, like SONY, were making dual deck cassette recorders? I don't remember hearing a peep. Radio stations used to advertise that they would be playing a certain artist's music at a specific time, uninterrupted, and everyone understood that they needed to put a blank tape in the machine. Who remembers the King Biscuit Flour Hour?

These recording industry fat cats need to learn what some in the industry have already figured out. Make great music, publish it for free on your own website and sell merchandise on your site as well. Or, they can try to stop the copying of music by suing individuals and see where that gets them. I guarantee the Dixie Chicks would not want to be named as complainants in that lawsuit.

[O.C. - Old Cracker]

Get down off your high horse.

[Only1choice____Freedom]

RIAA "It's not our fault. It's not the economy. It's not the music sucks. It's not priced too high. I's not the musisains hating theri target audience. Look at all those blank CDR's selling everyone is a Music CD not sold. Our customers are our ememies. We'll eliminate them and we won't have any more problems. Another Britany Speers please. OH NO!!, WHERE ARE OUR CUSTOMERS?!?!!"

Clueless is as clueless does.

[=Intervention=]

*ROFL* Do you really think that music sharing causes record sales to decline, even when presented with the evidence cited by the posters? You are in denial. It is interesting that VERY FEW of the artists themselves have sued to recoop so-called losses, and those artists are usually on the outs as far as popularity goes. The whole point is that music has been promoted as a way to screw the customer for the longest time. The customer hears 1-2 songs from an album (and those are often "radio edits" which aren't always the way the song is on the album) and then is expected to fork over anywhere from $10 to $17 for a product they've heard 1/10th of! What MP3 allows people to do is hear the WHOLE thing before they purchase albums, and speaking from personal experience, that's led me to purchase MORE CDs than I would have otherwise. It's also steered me clear of obvious junk CDs that have 1-2 hits and a bunch of filler. I don't think people would mind paying for MP3s -- MusicMatch has an interesting take on this -- but the record companies have thus far failed to EXPLOIT people's desire for convience and "try before you buy." Instead of leveraging the new tech, they're blaming the customers. Geesh. Will these dinosaurs EVER figure it out?

[wastoute]

Maybe this will put an end to that offensive rap music...

[Leroy S. Mort]

td's in the business. It's his ox being gored.

[Dimensio]

Not that I believe that theft of copyrighted work is 'right' (note that I've not defended as much here, and I won't), but one could make an argument that because the RIAA receives royalty payments for each and every blank CD purchased, people who buy blank CDs are 'entitled' to free music, as they've given money to the RIAA for content that the RIAA has not yet provided.

[tm22721]

For millions of people, it's become a license to steal

MILLIONS of consumers are NEVER wrong.

BUMP

[Extremely Extreme Extremist]

So I guess you feel it's justified to steal product from an industry you disapprove of to the point of putting them out of business

Puh-leeze! The recording industry is doing a fine job on their own of becoming obsolete.