What is Digg?45 Comments
- borez, on 01/25/2008, -0/+14"Is the music industry dying?"
No...but the people who once ran it are. - friday04, on 01/25/2008, -2/+14And don't forget the price. Remember that all 4 major labels were busted for price collusion (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Price_fixing) in the late 90's. They were purposely getting together and increasing the prices of CDs even though every form of media in the history of media has dropped after it's initial offering. They did this to themselves. I remember walking into a Virgin mega store in Phoenix circa 1998 to find a CD for a friend and being absolutely appalled at the $24 price tag. $24 f-ing dollars for a CD?
And after the MPAA's admission today that college kids only make up about 15% of pirated movies rather than the 44% they reported earlier, it's obvious that the MPAA is in for a similar shock to their system. Not only have they collectively been increasing the price of ticket sales across the U.S., they've also added more and more pre-movie advertising as well as in-movie advertising. Watching Casino Royale was like watching a 2-hour Sony Electronics commercial.
To hell with it all. It's time for a shakeup. - brianmita, on 01/25/2008, -1/+12nah, man it's not that so much... it's that online catalogs have really allowed people to explore their tastes without being gunshy about buying an album... I know that it's much better today than ten years ago, where'd I'd buy an album for a song, and see if the rest is any good. you'd wish you could hear it beforehand, but only a few stores would do this for you.
- Phillipmustache, on 01/25/2008, -0/+7Boo Radley
- andrewhy, on 01/25/2008, -1/+8It's about time somebody took a nuanced and informed look the state of the music industry. Digital sales are the future, labels are bloated and inefficient, CDs are overpriced and indies are doing just fine, thank you.
- DjOverEZ, on 01/25/2008, -0/+6I know this has been discussed before in prior articles on Digg, but a major reason I don't buy new music is because it sounds like absolute *****. I don't mean ***** as in the musical content, but the quality of the recordings. The cookie-cutter process in which albums are recorded today completely kills the potential personality of an album. In years past, artists would strive to create new and amazing sounds, today the lack of dynamic range and the lack of production innovation is a complete let down. Albums today are just recorded songs, not an album that takes you somewhere.
- inactive, on 01/25/2008, -0/+4Its funny having been in the entertainment business for years I can tell you most artists don't care if you downloading their music- they are just happy you are listening and enjoying it. Your corporate whores like Garth Brooks and Madonna are all about money- but hell they are not really all that talented to begin with. Not say like David Bowie or Annie Lennox who don't give a ***** as long as your listening!
Its it funny how mediocrity and no talent hacks are always screaming about revenue losses but true artists are appreciative of their fan base?
Real artists also know that most people cannot even afford to buy their music and they have nothing to do with fixing prices.
Karma always seems to make its presence known! - joshreed104, on 01/25/2008, -1/+4Bring back vinyl, I say.
- Dylson, on 01/25/2008, -0/+3http://www.albinoblacksheep.com/flash/youare
- BoogieManOh, on 01/25/2008, -0/+2Music isn't changing.. only the industry is sinking. Finally.
- tmyprod, on 01/25/2008, -0/+2Now that I think about it, the last actual CD I purchased was Tool's "10,000 Days" back in April of 2006. (fantastic album btw) But about two months ago I lost my cd case w/ about 25 cds in it and I wasn't really all that upset about it (though I did have the European version of NIN's "Pretty Hate Machine" where they spelled Reznor's name wrong on the back cover in there) If it had been about 4-5 yrs ago I would have been devastated at 25 of my favorite albums, but since I had all of the cds copied on my computer there was really only a sentimental attachment to them.
I, for one, like full album and not just singles. On a well made album the songs next to each other just make the whole experience ... well... an experience. - SwankRock3000, on 01/25/2008, -0/+1Personally, I don't care about the music "industry" dying. I'd rather give my money to the guy who wrote the song, not the people in the board room who decided to charge me 19.99 for the privilege. If you enjoy the music, there are a number of ways to support THE MUSICIANS THEMSELVES, not the 20 middlemen and lackies that have been feeding off them. Because when you get right down to it, all these self-important industry jag-offs have been making money off of other peoples work anyways.
- webmail716, on 01/25/2008, -0/+1No if we can just use the same strategy to take down the mainstream media, we might have a real democracy on our hands ! (of course, we'll still have to get people to vote on the issues rather than on likeability ...)
- inactive, on 01/25/2008, -0/+1Nikki Sixx is the most untalented person to walk the earth no offense to you, Mick Mars is good but the rest of the band sucks.
- bdbr, on 01/25/2008, -0/+1Actually if you take a sample of users on eMusic and look at their download history (any member can do that), a lot of what they download is entire albums. Albums still mean something to indie artists; they're not looking to make one catchy song, they're trying to make a good album. Consequently someone downloads a full album for $4, and it results in more sales than one or two 99-cent singles.
- bdbr, on 01/25/2008, -0/+1I'm glad to see the indie labels (and eMusic) still growing, but let's put some perspective on it. If you add up the percentages from the Reuters article, 84.4% of the sales were the big four labels. Digital music increased 45%, but it was only like 8% of sales in 2006. No one dares say how much of the music sales is CDs, but it should be at least 82% (the percentage of digital being more significant as overall sales dropped).
Things are changing, but nearly to the extent implied in this article. I mean really, what do you mostly see at the top of sales on iTunes, Amazon, or whatever? Big-label pop. Still, its a good trend - probably as big as anything they mentioned was that an indie label artist (Feist) made some of these charts (even if it did require Apple's help!). Also, Starbuck's getting more indie music heard (and bought) by hipsters with money - indie music isn't just something sold in barmy little music stores anymore. - Petzke, on 01/25/2008, -0/+1I love how they are complaining about their revenue declining. It's a complete shame that they only made 209 billion instead of 215 billion. Looks like they'll have to sleep on a pile of 50s instead of 100s. Give me a break.
I'd love to see some actual numbers, though, for anyone not as lazy as I. - NeonElixir, on 01/25/2008, -0/+1I for one would be happy to take from a stack of free CDs. I dunno, I do snatch a lot of music online, but I like owning CDs.
- antivibe, on 01/25/2008, -1/+2germane comment. mcluhan said that advertisers would pay us to look at their ads, if they could figure out how to....
- bdbr, on 01/25/2008, -1/+2I grew up with vinyl. I really don't miss music with pops and cracks.
- hypnosmurf, on 01/25/2008, -0/+1I guess NOFX was right, dinosaurs will die.
- kuyman, on 01/25/2008, -1/+2Are you high?
- bdbr, on 01/25/2008, -0/+1They're a distant fourth place in sales. They're scrambling to stay alive.
- ck01, on 01/25/2008, -0/+1Where is all the talent that is worth buying? I bought the Sixx AM album and it was below average - stick to Motley Crue. Hopefully, the new Disturbed album will be out soon and be good.
- bdbr, on 01/25/2008, -0/+1Huh, I bought more CDs last year than in the entire decades of the 1990s. Ever since I stopped listening to music from big labels, I find a lot more albums I like. Real albums, too - I only buy the CD if at least 80% of it is very good.
- jadenar, on 01/26/2008, -0/+1Really surprising and informative article. I thought that the music industry as a whole was tanking - had no idea that digital sales were actually UP and only physical CD sales were down.
- MikeSobe, on 01/25/2008, -0/+1Good Read, It's nice to see that EMI is looking to adapter to a more reasonable business model.
- buduardo, on 01/25/2008, -0/+1I guess I'm old school. I liked (still like) vinyl, but I also like CDs and the convenience of being able to carry gobs of music with me anywhere in the world on an iPod. I'm still an avid consumer of music, buying music on line as well as on CD. For me the issue is simply one of price. As has been stated, it's the cost that drives consumers and would-be consumers away from the vanishing record stores (I still call them that even if it's a bit of a misnomer at this point). I buy mainly used CDs and new releases that are sale-priced as loss leaders. If the normal price of a new CD was under $10, I would buy more. Very simply put, for me, the line in the sand should be at the most $10 - anything more is ridiculous. If the normal price for a CD was in the $5 - $8 range, sales would surge.
- joe8thson, on 01/25/2008, -0/+0Johnny Cash recorded Alan Shapiro's song "Sweet Kentucky"
check out Alan's new Video OIL DRUM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_zWyf9R0Qc - jstohler, on 01/25/2008, -4/+4"Rock Band" will save the music industry. I've spent more on songs there this month than on real music in the past 5 years.
- dubplanet, on 02/02/2008, -0/+0Well the article brings the facts to the table . The music industry is not dead it's just in a revamping phase.. gearing towards the digital arena. These executives for the major labels they are not stupid they are taking notes(DRM free music amazon the front runner) trying to stay in TUNE to the changing music climate. While indie labels are staying a float because it's easier and cheaper to release an album and self promote it using social websites such as myspace.com, youtube.com, facebook.com and so on Getting their own music on itune then selling it. 1.2.3. Before they were making demos after demos for these major labels hoping and praying to get sign...The game has change.... Why sign to a major label? The trend is signing a distribution deal with a major label and still work as an indie. The artist keep their copyright and take home a bigger royalty check. So on that point Majors are concern about CD sales dropping and some P2P users but more importantly they are concern about their life line.. THE ARTIST.. as they jump ship
Dubplanet Records the making of a virtual label - TheMachine1, on 01/25/2008, -0/+0Best tunes I heard in years is the white noise from my electric heater.
- grollett, on 01/30/2008, -0/+0By recycling exectuives at the majors they are taking bad habits and implementing into an already broken system. Take a guy like Jay-Z at Def Jam let him rack up a bunch of top selling albums and then not listen to him and embrace change and you know what, you scared off a guy who could have made a difference.
- jamminjulez, on 01/25/2008, -0/+0all the mainstream artists are swimming in their dollars anyway.
it's time for them to realize that they can't make money the "easy" way with CD sales like they used to.
digital is where it's at. - rockstarr26, on 01/25/2008, -0/+0its a great time for innovation. and the levelling of the industry playing field mens more people eat...some just eat less extravagantly...but all of us in the industry have to realize that production costs have to become reasonable, and that innovative distribution is key, now that recorded audio is what the music video or tv appearance has always been...a promotional tool.
http://pluggedin.com - hifidelity1, on 01/25/2008, -4/+3No it is not dying and yes it is changing---in fact I think it is really interesting---in the 50's and 60's SINGLE songs were more important... that's kind of where we are at now... musicians should start writing and producing SINGLES... not whole albums... and then perhaps compile singles to create a wicked awesome album, that is how it use to be, and I believe that's where we are heading back. In the 70's and on... the focus WAS on entire albums, whole albums, concept albums etc. but as the article said, PEOPLE DON'T BUY WHOLE ALBUMS ANYMORE... they want to buy great singles...so if you want to be successful... look to the past my friends, the music industry of the 60's knew what they were doing.
- QuickWaffle, on 01/25/2008, -2/+1The only reason I pirate music and movies in the first place is because of the outrageous prices. I'm not paying 20+ dollars for a CD. And I think it's ridiculous that it's about $12.50 to see a movie in the theater. If CD prices were dropped below 5 bucks and movie prices to about 7 then we'd be talking, but for now.. I'll pirate away thanks.
- TehMuff1nM4n, on 01/25/2008, -3/+2Anyone up for some Rock Band?
- Scheissen, on 01/25/2008, -3/+2oh noes! I have to pay $15 for a CD, what will I ever do. I can't not but the CD cuz I need it/
- bluemist, on 01/25/2008, -2/+1True. If you are a musician yourself, you would notice that many newer songs do simple typical chord patterns and melodies while old songs give us unique touches and are more experimental. I'm not quite a musician but I tend to hear many songs and hear the similarities within them. Maybe there is uniqueness in modern music but I don't tend to hear them often because most are indie. I hope that indeed the little guys to do great music get more exposure this year and the big guys who do lame music continue their downward spirals.
- Petzke, on 01/25/2008, -2/+0FYE still charges $24 for a CD, it's insane.
To their credit though, they do sometimes carry the more obscure stuff not carried by other chains. I miss mom and pop music stores. - inactive, on 01/25/2008, -4/+1"
Dragon kings dying queens, where is salvation now
Lost my life lost my dreams, rip the bones from my flesh
Silent screams laughing here, dying to tell you the truth
You are planned and you are damned in this brave new world" - ieataquacrayons, on 01/25/2008, -4/+1The music I listen to is mainly off D.I.Y. type labels, prices are more than fair, I purchase online, or at a live show never more than $10 for a cd. Usually at least once a year they have $5 for any cd in our catalog sales. Are huge hits, and they end up selling T-shirts and the like because of the the increased traffic for sales and people wanting to combine purchases to save on shipping... Maybe the labels need to look at how they are running their businesses. They aren't being greedy and everyone is winning. I suppose that all changes when you have popular artists who want to be on the next episode of cribs......
- GregZor, on 01/25/2008, -5/+0and nothing of value was lost
- chetanthaker, on 01/25/2008, -12/+6All thanks to Bittorrent.
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