What is Digg?76 Comments
- fiorenza, on 10/12/2007, -0/+23I know my habits have changed. I haven't bought a complete CD in over two years, now that I think about it. I buy a song if I really want it, but the biggest change is the impulse buys. I just don't bother anymore.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+22Maybe because $13 is too much to find out 85% of the CD isn't worth the purchase.
- Tygell, on 10/12/2007, -1/+21Yeah, seems like common sense to me. I only have a handful of CDs that I can actually listen to all the way through. The rest only have 3-4 songs that I like, and I skip the rest.
So why buy a CD only to enjoy 25% of it when you can get right to the good stuff? - lakush, on 10/12/2007, -1/+19CDs are overpriced as it is. Selling digitally protected files for the same price is a scam.
- EmileVictor, on 10/12/2007, -2/+12Oh, poor music labels. They only sold 81.5 million CDs!
- geekee, on 10/12/2007, -2/+11What's going on is simple. The album format is dying. People only want to listen to what they are programmed to like by the radio. Anything unfamiliar is crap and a waste of their time. Singles generate much less profit than CDs, so the music industry is in a decline, even though the economy is booming. Piracy also causes a large amount of loss, since teenagers and college student, traditionally large consumers of music, have turned to illegal copying and downloading instead of even paying for the singles.
- dtd00d, on 10/12/2007, -3/+11The biggest advantage though of buying a CD is the quality; most music sites offer music at frustratingly low bitrates, and with DRM to top it off.
(cue torrents)
But I completely agree that when you buy a CD you often pay for music you don't like, unless it's a single. - catfud, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7@dtd00d
I buy my digital music on eMusic they are a great selection of metal and they use no DRM and 320 bitrate mp3s
they have labels like Inside Out, Relapes, SPV, and roadrunner - elioty, on 10/12/2007, -3/+10Absolutely true. Why buy the whole album when you can just buy the song(s) you know you like? Same thing with iTunes and TV. I don't need a monthly subscription when I can just buy the single TV shows I like from iTunes.
- pierreb, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6The memory of the industry is quite short.
Before the Beatles, there were few albums that were sold - the important sales number was the "45", a single with a "B" side thrown in.
In many ways, we have come full circle to the way in which the music business was operated pre-1967.
The music industry has to come to grips with this - there business model has changed and they have to deal with it - JohnyD, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6Why is it that businesses cannot accept periods of decline eventhough the notion of infinite growth is impossible?
That's a retorical question... I already have my answers. :) - RichPowers, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7So how long before the RIAA issues another report blaming those filthy, no good, dirty hippie pirates for destorying the music industry?
Maybe if you take a few more grannies and college kids to court you can recoup your losses. No, really RIAA, I bet you totally could. While you guys are at it, how about adding 10x more DRM. That'll show those pirates! - TheCash, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6I stopped buying complete cd's a long time ago. I think the cd that turned me was the self titled 'Len.' I loved that 'Steal my Sunshine,' song and I thought that's the way the whole album was going to be like so of course I bought it right there. I get into my car, put it in the cd player, and 5 minutes later I am shocked when 'sunshine' is followed by this white guys trying to rap and be hardcore *****, which made up the other 11 tracks on the album.
This has since become the formula for record labels: make one song a hit, then package that song with 10-11 other crappy ones so you can charge full album price and exploit the people who want just that one song.
It's rare that a band comes around that is good enough to make an entire album worth listening, and even though this is how it has been for close to a century, record labels still refuse to accept this fact. The trouble started for them when mp3's and online delivery made it possible get just that one song you were interested in, both legally and illegally.
There are still some bands I buy entire albums from, and buy in cd format for that matter, but when I do I buy them from the band website or concert directly, thereby ensuring that a larger portion of the money goes directly to the band and not the labels. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -4/+9maybe if the RIAA supported artists that made albums worth buying, their sales wouldn't suck so bad. 90% of music coming out today is just, bad. almost every artist that has a half way decent song on the radio puts it on an album that has 2 or 3 songs that are worth listening to (the singles) and the rest is filler. i have no problem paying $15 for a good album (i will when the new CLUTCH album drops next week, i *****), ***** i still buy albums on vinyl if they are good, and available on that median, and those can cost much more than 15 bucks. even ***** that i download i buy a hard copy of eventually (theres nothing collectible about mp3s). i think other people would be willing to do the same if they listened to, and respected good music, but as long the radio is full of carbon copy ***** and artist that got their start on american idol people will keep downloading. that and if the industry wises up about DRM and licensing, but thats a whole other rant.
**Speaking of good music, anyone that is a fan of pure rock music check out the new Clutch album, From Beale Street to Oblivion. great album by an amazing band. Clutch is what rock and roll is supposed to be. LISTEN - Oly701, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5If only they knew this years ago, before they managed to kill their own industry.
First, CD's having more storage then records/tapes made it so artists felt necessary to fill the whole thing but not always worth actually coming up with decent songs which is much harder and takes longer. What was the point when you could make one or two great songs and have them carry the rest of the garbage. Hell, they were going so far as to make releases double discs and filled w/ 90% garbage.
Second, putting all their efforts into finding people who look good and teaching them to sing (ala. Brittany, boy bands, etc) instead of spending a little more time and effort finding talented artists who produce good music with staying power. They went for the quick buck and made a bunch of cash for awhile, but given the choices we have now they are (rightfully) screwed. - kingygk, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5Why don't the record companies get a clue and lower the price of new cd's? They could make a killing if that 18 dollar cd were lowererd to 8 bucks or less. The mall and big chain prices are nuts. I buy all of my cd's used now. Especially when there is a buy 3 get one free deal. I would rather rip my own music than deal with the apple DRM crap.
- 1dirtytrucker, on 10/12/2007, -2/+7Maybe it's because the music is rubbish.
- Tb0ned, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Yay! Bands will actually have to record 12 good songs instead of 3 amazing tracks and a bunch of ***** filler to make any money in the business. If anything it this might hold musicians more accountable for making garbage to round out an album.
- threemagic, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Why doesn't any of these articles ever go into the fact that as a whole people do not have as much disposable income? When the price of everything rising faster than what incomes are people have less and less money to spend on non-necessities. If you can get your music streamed on-line for free or from TV stations and get the exact kind of music you want to listen to, why bother buying cd's to try out? When you do hear a song you like maybe you'll go buy the single from the online store but you aren't going to run out and spend 15 bucks on the CD... not when it costs you 45 dollars to fill your tank.
I may not be correct but it sure seems like a solid reason to me. - deweyhewson, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4It's sad, personally, as somebody who buys (yes, buys) around 10 albums per month on CD. And I'm a young college student. Some of the greatest music is hidden behind the singles, and few people find that because they are cultured to like what's on the radio and in the top 100.
Hopefully the great bands (The Arcade Fire, Counting Crows, Modest Mouse, etc.) that release quality tracks across whole albums won't cave to the trend to sell out and just record what they know will be popular (I'm looking at you Fall Out Boy).
By the way, you can still find new releases on CD for around $10 - just check the locally owned record stores around college campuses. - inspecality, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Are the programmers paid like $0.50 for each $200 software license? Do they pay to program and then try and make their money up through software sales? Didn't think so.
- keybsnbits, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4When you say that things would be different, do you mean that instead of mass advertising, good artists would be heard about through word of mouth? If so, I'm all for it.
- 3DVigilante, on 10/12/2007, -3/+7Perhaps the recording industry should take the decline in sales as a cue to stop producing substandard music by substandard musicians and then forcing us to buy it.
Produce some good music, by some talented musicians, and see what happens. - PictorieN, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4These reports always miss out one crucial point... another contributing factor to the decline of cd sales, is the fact that they are so badly mastered.... Compressed, loud pieces of ***** with no dynamic range, kill the enjoyment for me. I havent bought a new or remastered cd for years because of this, and I know I am not alone.
Heres a test for you, load a cd (any cd almost) from this year into nero wave editor, and look at the waveform....it will probably look like a solid block (or close) of a sound wave.
Now,,,, take a cd from say.. 15 years ago and try the same thing....SUPRISE! A wave form with peaks and valleys....... thats dynamic range people :) - NanoStuff, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4They're offering the cheapest service possible for the highest possible price. It's what a business does. If you support such a business, you're the *****, not them. Congrats to Apple for ***** over countless customers while they take it with a smile. That's corporate talent to be admired.
- prockcore, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Yes!
The so-called "loudness war" is what's preventing me from buying new CDs. It makes for some very grating, tiresome music.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loudness_war - Jugalator, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Oh noes, so their strategy with bundling a bunch of much crappier songs for a high cost doesn't work as well anymore?
- keybsnbits, on 10/12/2007, -3/+6I think at some point we'll all be able to be honest with ourselves and admit the real reason music sales have gone down. Children are growing up in an atmosphere where they know how to get a hold of free singles on normal P2P networks, and full albums through torrents. Having been born in 1987, for instance, I admit to having only bought about 5 CDs during these past 19 years, and maybe 20 digital singles. The rest of my 34 GB library was amassed through other means.
The real question is... do we care that everybody is getting their music through piracy? And can this habit even be changed if we did care? I, for one, support artists through other means, and could give a rat's ass about music sales and the RIAA's fat wallet. - Bluejaye, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3"Most all iTunes albums are $9.99. Where can you get new CD's for that price anymore? If you've got a source, I'd love to check it out."
BestBuy, Target, Amazon.com, etc. I haven't paid a penny more than $9.99 in a long while. Usually I'm buying them for $7.99 from BB and Target, just watch their flyers for sales. But, I'm buying new releases / new artists, not catalog albums.
Amazon.com usually has a decent selection of old catalog albums for under $10 (i.e. you can get almost every Rush album from Amazon.com for $7.47, as just one example). - eunichs, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3The best way to buy music has got to be buying CD's from Amazon.com... You get the same instant song samples that you get from the online stores, the prices are great, the delivery is quick (not as quick as a download, well... unless you are on dial up), there is no DRM, and you get to decide the encoding quality. You can do it from your desk at work, and you get something to collect that you can guarantee will be compatible with the iPod killer, whenever that arrives. And that two day wait for the delivery is more like an enjoyable anticipation than watching the download bar in iTunes, which for me is getting more and more like a psychological endurance test.
- seneyr, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Good read. The RIAA knows that singles are what's been selling for the last 10 years. If people were more interested in entire albums, we'd have no need for singles compilations like NOW, etc. Before people were buying singles for $5 because you had the CD cost and they also threw in remixes or B-sides to the CD. Now people are buying just the single song they want. None of the extras.
The consumer has been empowered to pay for what they want. We can pick and choose the best stuff and cut out the crap. And save a little buy not buying what we had no interest in.
The old system is broken no matter how much they try and convince themselves otherwise. Blame piracy all they want but the market is changing and the consumer is always right.
We should first thank the pirates for forcing the RIAA to adopt digital distribution. Then we should thank the online music stores for allowing us to pick and choose what we want. Then thank both of them for helping bring down the RIAA.
Hey boss! Digital sales are up. Way up. But CD sales are down! We're still losing money! Piracy must have gone through the roof! - spankaccount, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3This Slashdot comment says it better than I could have...
http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=227725&cid=18448461 - NessTheHero, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3The only CDs I've bought in the past year or so are foreign bands with American labels that aren't in the RIAA scheme, or independent artists who handle the transactions themselves.
The last three CDs I bought were from Symbion Project, otherwise known as Kassan Brooker, the sound guy for Harmonix. I paid him through paypal and he even signed the inside of one of the albums. It feels good to actually pay the artist themselves instead of some store or label. - matthewsr2000, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2how about we take it beyond the price on the label.
Has anyone else noticed that their disposable income is rapidly shrinking? how about the fact that instead of $20 to fill my tank, it takes $35. how about the fact that my grocery bill has gone up at least %10 from this same time last year. How about the fact that my utillities instead of being $50 like last year, they're $85. Nothing in my life has changed, i still drive the same car, eat the same food (although i might use more bargain brands now then i did then), and i still have the same appliances.
Not to be the big anti oil guy, but most of these things can be traced back to the cost of oil.
Now less disposable income means that i'm trying to stretch my bucks as far as they'll go. this means i don't buy CD's at all. That means i don't go to the theater hardly at all to see the latest flop from hollywood. it means i don't go out buying big screen TV's and whatnot.
That's the long and short of it, freemarket capitalism is on hard times right now, greed isn't as equal as it should be, and as a result things aren't working out like they should. - dynacrylic, on 10/12/2007, -4/+6"Many of our readers also cite a declining quality in music from the major labels."
You think?
The last CD was almost a year ago when 10,000 Days came out. If more bands 'sold their soul to make a record' I would probably be buying more CDs.
Until then, I'm content with what I've got! - Waterrat, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2 My feelings exactly!
Listen to Genesis_A trick of The Tail_CD as an example and compare it to the top 40 crap...The comment about it being "cookie cutter" music really hit the nail on the head.
The exceptions are some movie sound tracks like LOTR and the Harry Potter movies.
Ive also noticed the way many women sing in pop music..Singing is not what i call it,I call it moaning..
It sounds worse than two tom cats fighting in the back yard..And people buy this stuff.
It astounds me...And yes,there is good music out there,but you won't find it on clear channel.
The record companys brought this on themselves and they can pass the buck if they want,but I'm not buying their sob story,or the ***** they try to pass off as "music".
- Waterrat, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2"Many of our readers also cite a declining quality in music from the major labels."
You think?
DUH!
That's true for me. I no longer even listen to the radio, I hate all pop music,especially rap.(Which is not music,but poetry.)
The quality of music has been going down the crapper for years...They can clamor that pirates are stealing their music,but most of it is not worth giving away, much less stealing!
I now listen to traditional music,like Rick Thum's A Reason To Dance, and Celtic.
I buy music from the artists themselves,or from CDBaby.
- Crowforge, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2One, I don't like anything out now.
Two, I hate the music industry and want it to fall so I just do things other than listen to music I don't like that I payed too much for, like read. - kevisazombie, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2The problem is the music sucks... you wouldn't have to download songs singularly if the companies would publish artists that were talented enough to produce a full album of quality material
- rob2000007, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Why don't record stores change?
I know there's likely a bunch of legal things... but...
If I owned a mom-and-pop, I'd rip every new CD in the store. When people came in, I'd have some touch screens or some scanners and let people mix their own CD's for immediate burning or copying onto a flash drive.
I think a lot of people want to go into record stores and browse. If they wanted to buy a whole traditional CD, great. If not, buy a few songs or select from pre-composed mixes... and there you go. - kd1s, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I stopped buying CD's a couple years ago and instead do track by track in iTunes. The SO still buys CD's occasionally but I actually like them. John Legend is pretty good, so too is Eric Roberson.
And sometimes I might snatch a whole CD off iTunes. I've done that with Lakeside and Incognito. - brenbart, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1(I'm really not a music person I'm just ranting!)
Gosh! Some people might interpret this to mean that the general public feels that most of the music produced by the recording industry is utter crap.
Maybe this will bring about the heyday of the One-Hit-Wonder. Music studios will be more willing to record and throw out a single of a band rather than working for months and months (years?) to get an entire album together.
Anything that would get them to change their method of inundating the market with hype for a handful of artists sounds good to me. - jferraro, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Nothing makes me happier than seeing big music complain about how bad their sales are. If no one makes money in music anymore then people will stop making crappy music that "sells" and people that truly love music will just make it because they want to. This could actually be a really great thing for creativity.
- AARGH2K, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Revenge of the 45!
Music industry will have to readjust their earning back from the Vinyl days, when 45's were King! With tapes then withCD's they made buying the whole album a requirement (Cassingles and CD singles were way overpriced)
Their are a few artists I will buy an entire CD no matter what, but the majority of the stuff out now, is singles only.
But they will just blame it on piracy as always, hire some more lawyers, sue more people. - ChasKnight, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1 I do not do p2p or illegal filesharing and at first I ignored the RIAA lawsuits. But after a friend's computer was damaged by Sony's rootkit cd's and with the explosion of lawsuits, I just decided not to buy any new cd's until some of these asses went bankrupt. If I just have to have it I might buy it used.
- crazzy88ss, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Yea CD sales are dropping... Why buy a crappy $15 album when you only like one or two songs? I've only purchased ~6 CDs because of that reason. I got tired of spending $15 on one or two songs. iTunes is where it's at. Artists won't like the fact that you only want to buy a few of their songs, so they're going to bitch how illegal stuff is killing sales.
- catfud, on 10/12/2007, -8/+9if you arnt listen to full CDs you may want to think about changing the kind of artists you listen to
i listen to only the best metal and every album a band comes out with is 100% awesome
im talking bands like nevermore, pain of salvation, dream theater, blind guardian, death, dragonforce, katatonia, ,astodon, meshuggah, symphony x, wuthering hights, and communic
just to name a few - catfud, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1if you love Dream Theater
check out Pain of Salvation they are the best prog metal band I have ever heard - srodolff, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1To boil this down to it's bare essentials:
80% of songs on albums are crap. And now the public has the choice not to buy it.
Ergo: Music revenue is down.
Welcome to Personal Freedom 101. - Waterrat, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1 And you have to know that little fact is what scares the ***** out of big media...Artists can by pass them entirely and using the net sell to their audience directly.
-
Show 51 - 76 of 76 discussions
© Digg Inc. 2009
— Content created and posted by Digg users is