Anoebis Posted September 23, 2014 Share Posted September 23, 2014 Well, I was wondering, what do people think is a fair price for buying a cd these days? Or a digital download? As we keep seeing sales go down, down and down. Untill there is nothing left... (i'm afraid)Today, the general price via internet is 10-12€, this price is unchanged for a decade more or less... Although for instance one ticket for the movies = 10€ in Belgium, 1 Mcdo meal is also around 10€, a party is usually between 10-15€,... I have the feeling music became really cheap, but still people don't want to buy... why? Just a philosophical topic about a dying industry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gn°me Posted September 23, 2014 Share Posted September 23, 2014 I'am afraid this is still the biggest downside of the internet... It's too easy to download HQ audio...As i look for 'Suntrip' in tor**nt sites, i can easily download everything on the label... While 10-12€ for a CD remains still very cheap..especially when you got an insight in how many hours of work it takes to create an album, for an artist. It's also very sad to see, that when i go play at parties, how many djs work with illegal mp3s on their controllers.. Is there a solution?? Well, i like it the most when labels start repressing the music that is so overpriced at sites as discogs, it's a huge commerce if you see how people exploit the music you can't buy new anymore... I don't know how difficult it is to repress artists older work, but i really appriciate the efforts that labels as suntrip, dat, amakusa, ... are doing.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anoebis Posted September 23, 2014 Author Share Posted September 23, 2014 repressing is only an option of people buy of course... So only for the VERY rare ones... You have a point, it's probably too easy to download... But even then, WHY do people chose to download and NOT spend money on music. Because, Cinema's are doing just fine, even if you can simply download too As for the djs, that's is true too... A pitty, as an organiser, you should make sure you have serious djs, but ah well, how to know for sure... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
franki Posted September 23, 2014 Share Posted September 23, 2014 I'm happy to pay 10-18 Euros for a CD. I will pay more for special releases, but because I buy a lot of music and most CDs I can get for 13 Euro from Arabesque (via Amazon)with next day delivery, I don't like paying over the odds or using Bandcamp etc, as I never know how long deliveries will take and don't always get confirmation e-mails to know the order has been received. It's way more convenient to buy most of my music from one trusted source. I do feel a little guilty not buying direct from labels more - but by the time you add in the shipping from overseas, I'm spending sometimes half the price of another CD on top and will have to wait longer for the album to arrive. I'll continue to buy music on CD only for as long as they are produced! It's an interesting point about film. My brother for example buys loads of DVDs and Blu-Ray movies, but free downloads (almost) all of his music. I guess it depends where your passions lie. I love music, but have little interest in film. As far as the cinema goes - I think some people are happy to pay for the social experience and huge screen, even though they can download a pirate of the movie for free. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest The Hypnotic LFO Room Posted September 23, 2014 Share Posted September 23, 2014 Some of us use bandcamp where we set our own prices. My label will no longer release with Beatport and alike due to way too high prices and because they got zero idea what goa and psytrance is (everything is being labeled psytrance and the top 100 is flooded with pop trance). I set out to release the next Elysium CD with a max of 20-25% profit. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ormion Posted September 23, 2014 Share Posted September 23, 2014 I have the feeling music became really cheap, but still people don't want to buy... why? For the same reason people download movies, games, software, books etc. They can find it for free without any consequences. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rotwang Posted September 23, 2014 Share Posted September 23, 2014 When I compare how much enjoyment I get from a CD compared to many other things I could spend £10 on I reckon I'd be willing to pay quite a bit more. I'm not complaining, obviously. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gn°me Posted September 23, 2014 Share Posted September 23, 2014 The thing about the film industry is that it evolves (3d, hd, ...) Also i presume the budget of big hollywoodproducers is a little bit bigger So the market crashes less...but they do crash also Music gets more and more digital, cds are fading... sadly (were's the fun in mixing with mp3s on a controller and most of them even use sync button!!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Penzoline Posted September 23, 2014 Share Posted September 23, 2014 For normal person who has an average job the price is seriously very little for a new CD. If you like the music and want to support the scene, especially goa, the investment pays off. I can understand those who are less fortunate and have troubles scratching up the dough it gets a little dicier. It also seems (to me anyway) Goa is thriving in poorer countries for some reason. Also some of the money that should go into the music itself gets diverted to other things really easy. There's ton's of parties going on and you'd think these people would be also willing to buy the music but it doesn't seem that way. There needs to be a stronger mentality of "support". I know there's people who say they won't buy music because big record labels but also miss the point of small independent labels needing the support to keep going. At least donate if you don't care for the physical products, it only helps to acquire more of what you like. Think of this way, your money matters! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BraneFreeze Posted September 23, 2014 Share Posted September 23, 2014 You may be used to higher prices in Europe, but 10-12 EUR for a CD, plus international shipping costs, is a non-starter for me. There are very few CD albums, modern or "vintage", where I'm willing to pay that much or more. There are also very few albums where I want to buy all the tracks, another disincentive to purchasing CDs. Obviously, CD collectors feel differently. However, I am perfectly willing to pay reasonable amounts for high quality digital downloads available on a timely basis (ie, within 2-3 days of the album release). My definition of reasonable is approx $1 per track, with a 20-30% discount if you buy the entire album. Of course labels and producers are free to charge whatever they want, but don't be surprised if music fans are resistant or use file sharing. I do believe that many music fans want to compensate producers, but there are limits, and high prices create an "all or nothing" scenario. Finally, pricing strategies should acknowledge the volume of new music released daily. Much of it is good, and a very small percent is great. As a fan, I'm not just allocating money, I'm allocating time. I am less likely to spend time listening to new goa or psy if I perceive the financial cost as "unreasonable" compared to alternative activities (including previously acquired music). I'm not saying this is fair, but it happens. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Penzoline Posted September 23, 2014 Share Posted September 23, 2014 Well I guess I should mention all retail prices in my country average around ~20€ for a new CD. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blubber Posted September 23, 2014 Share Posted September 23, 2014 I have the feeling music became really cheap, but still people don't want to buy... why? simple logic: want to listen to music without paying? turn on your radio, tune into youtube, myvideo, soundcloud, youporn, bandcamp or wherever and stream without any problems. want to have something for ur library? try some filesharing, upload to ur musicbox and listen countless times. there is an incredible amount of good music released legally, for free, creative commons and such. believe me, u will find the most experimental and modern, freaked out music there. wanna pay? well, there's a few questions: wanna digital only? ever tried itunes store? or spotify? there millions of people who go that way nowadays. oh, you want cd's. well, there are millions, really. there are some shops where u can get them, even secondhand. you want obscure music, aha! wellll, then you should check the internet. i'm sure you get everything there, but prices may vary from 5 to 500 euro for a special piece. what do people think is a fair price for buying a cd these days simple logic: who buys ur music? mainly collectors who spend money regularly and maybe some folks that chip in maybe once in life, or maybe more often. some time on a festival or they stumble into a music store and were impressed by the cover. looks like that the more or less frequently buying goa collector is ur man. how much money do you want to spend? well, monthly, lets say, 20 or 30 euros. life's pretty expensive, you know, everyone wants money for everything. sometimes it's quite hard, no job, or only few job, but sometimes it's really good. what do u want to buy? you say, u have 30 euros, you can get alot of goa for that, there's hundreds of cd's, some cheaper, some more expensive, some really rare, some really hot. u wanna buy regularly? no problem: u can buy at least 10 cd's per month from now on, new or used, and u won't get all of them in 10 years. believe me, or ask some true collectors, there are hundreds of good cds. and don't forget that every year cum some more. oooh, you don't want to buy only goa? u like cds in general and also want to have some triphop, house, chill, rock, techno, hair, stoner, reggae rap? well, then u can't buy alot of goa. prices are about 10-20 euros per cd. as long as they don't lower the prices u have to stick to the veryveryvery best of the best, and maybe some of the reallyreally goods, and some blind buys are also worthy. listen to it online to get an impression first and then decide: stick to ur style, or try something different, new, contemporary, ... u know what i mean. oh, and something u should not forget: there's also goa on vinyl. believe me, vinyl is the thing if u want to fully experience ur music. but unfortunately there is no more goa released on them. maybe some of u collectors could help to release the reallyreally best of the genre and the veryvery goods on vinyl again. they would be more expensive but really worth the money if youre a junky... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BraneFreeze Posted September 23, 2014 Share Posted September 23, 2014 Some of us use bandcamp where we set our own prices. My label will no longer release with Beatport and alike due to way too high prices and because they got zero idea what goa and psytrance is (everything is being labeled psytrance and the top 100 is flooded with pop trance). One advantage of Bandcamp is that you can work with them directly, which lowers costs and increases flexibility. Some labels and producers use Beatspace to indirectly access Bandcamp, and their album / track prices almost always seem higher than their peers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Space Alpha Posted September 24, 2014 Share Posted September 24, 2014 Well, i think 1€ for a digital song is a fair price, i gave up on CD's a long time ago. Those few CD's i got left just collect the dust here, same with my over 300 oldschool techno vinyls, maybe i should sell them! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blair Thaumic Posted September 24, 2014 Share Posted September 24, 2014 10 USD or 8 EUR for a digital album is fine. For EPs it's the # of tracks + $1. If the payment is on a sliding scale like some Bandcamp artists have, then I like to give a dollar or two more than the minimum. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mars Posted September 24, 2014 Share Posted September 24, 2014 But even then, WHY do people chose to download and NOT spend money on music. Because, Cinema's are doing just fine, even if you can simply download too Movies grabbed with a cam from inside a movie theater are terrible, so for all those who want to enjoy a movie in HD, they have to EITHER go and see the movie, OR wait 4+ months till the BluRay rip comes out. Time is a serious incentive in that case. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Penzoline Posted September 24, 2014 Share Posted September 24, 2014 Well to be fair it doesn't take that long for bluray quality to surface on the web these days. It used to be a lot worse. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tatsu Posted September 24, 2014 Share Posted September 24, 2014 The thing about the film industry is that it evolves (3d, hd, ...) Also i presume the budget of big hollywoodproducers is a little bit bigger So the market crashes less...but they do crash also Music gets more and more digital, cds are fading... sadly (were's the fun in mixing with mp3s on a controller and most of them even use sync button!!) Even if music is getting more digital, imho if you DJ you have to buy the files from official sources. End of story! I also fail to see why people won't to that. I mean back in the days if you wanted a specific track and you didn't want to download it illegaly you had to buy the whole album, even if the rest of it wasn't that hot. Nowadays you can buy single tracks and you are set. Especially when it comes to DJing this feels like heaven to me. It's a bit off topic but you can use CDJs to mix MP3s via USB stick without any sync-button whatosever. It functions in the same way than using the CDJs and CDs. And mixing with a controller even with the sync function can be fun if it's done well. I'm not into it but you can use shitloads of effects during the mixing and even add additional controllers with more effects. You can obviously say that using the sync function is cheap but imho djing is not only about the mixing but more about creating a good mix with selecting the right tracks for the right time. Which is a talent that is not linked to being able to beatmix just by hearing but imho at least equally important for a DJ. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ormion Posted September 24, 2014 Share Posted September 24, 2014 Well to be fair it doesn't take that long for bluray quality to surface on the web these days. It used to be a lot worse. Well the thing is that even those blu-ray rips you can find in torrent sites are not blu-ray quality at all. Most of them are 1-3 GB while the real blu-ray is close to 20 GB. The thing is that the vast majority of viewers don't care about it even if they spent thousands of euros/dollars to buy the best TV. Kind of ironic if you think about it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tatsu Posted September 24, 2014 Share Posted September 24, 2014 Imho this is exactly what doesn't make sense to me. Lots of people are tech-crazy and get the newest gear more or less regularly: new TV, new smart phone and what not. But paying 1.5 Euros for a MP3 is too much so they rather download or watch movies in crap quality on their high-end tv. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ormion Posted September 24, 2014 Share Posted September 24, 2014 Imho this is exactly what doesn't make sense to me. Lots of people are tech-crazy and get the newest gear more or less regularly: new TV, new smart phone and what not. But paying 1.5 Euros for a MP3 is too much so they rather download or watch movies in crap quality on their high-end tv. As someone who sells smartphones for living I can tell you that the vast majority of customers see smartphones as a way to be cool and not as gadgets. I see people everyday willing to spend 600 euros for an iphone without knowing what IOS is. For me it's like bying a 2000 euros PC without knowing what Windows is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BraneFreeze Posted September 24, 2014 Share Posted September 24, 2014 I'd be curious to know the results if one of the major labels (eg, Suntrip, DAT, Zion 604, etc) would try the following pricing experiment: Issue a new full length digital album by an established producer for a minimum price of approx 4 EUR / $5 (with the customer option to pay more if they want). Of course the producer would have to agree and the music would have to be good. A parallel CD album release would be optional. Would total digital sales revenues be higher or lower with such a reduced price? Just a thought. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Space Alpha Posted September 24, 2014 Share Posted September 24, 2014 Btw. digital music tracked by IFPI, generated 39 percent of the music industries revenue in 2013 (5.9BN), trend growing http://www.ifpi.org/downloads/Digital-Music-Report-2014.pdf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Purple Sunray Posted September 24, 2014 Share Posted September 24, 2014 Imho this is exactly what doesn't make sense to me. Lots of people are tech-crazy and get the newest gear more or less regularly: new TV, new smart phone and what not. But paying 1.5 Euros for a MP3 is too much so they rather download or watch movies in crap quality on their high-end tv. Do you really think that they would buy that new TV, smart phone and what not if they could download it for free with a couple of clicks instead? I don' think so.. There is a reason why the manufacturing industry is REALY REALY worried about the "internet of things" coming up ("internet of things" => download the blueprint of your phone and print with your 3D printer at home) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tatsu Posted September 24, 2014 Share Posted September 24, 2014 Do you really think that they would buy that new TV, smart phone and what not if they could download it for free with a couple of clicks instead? I don' think so.. There is a reason why the manufacturing industry is REALY REALY worried about the "internet of things" coming up ("internet of things" => download the blueprint of your phone and print with your 3D printer at home) As Ormion said it's not so much a gadget but an item for your image. If you can just download it instead of having to pay several hundred bucks for it it loses that image so maybe they wouldn't? Or they would just buy any gadget instead of an expensive model? I can't tell. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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