iTunes Music Store sells over 1 mil songs during first week

Hamel · Post by **Hamel** » 2003-05-06 09:41am

Emeril BAM

Will this keep up or is it doomed to fail?

Col. Crackpot · Post by **Col. Crackpot** » 2003-05-06 11:39am

yes, i think it might be the final clunk on the head of the incredibly stupid music execs....the one that makes them realize, finally, what the market has been screaming at them for 3 years. CD'S = 8 Track, Vinyl MP3's = What the people fucking want. is that so hard for them to understand.

Shinova · Post by **Shinova** » 2003-05-06 11:42am

Take THAT, RIAA!!!

Crayz9000 · Post by **Crayz9000** » 2003-05-06 11:48am

It'll probably keep up.

Given that the average album has only a dozen songs, a user will pay roughly $12 per album. That's about eight bucks less than the street price of albums...

phongn · Post by **phongn** » 2003-05-06 12:19pm

Albums are either $10 or less, actually.

Crayz9000 · Post by **Crayz9000** » 2003-05-06 12:22pm

phongn wrote:Albums are either $10 or less, actually.

Depends on where you go.

Iceberg · Post by **Iceberg** » 2003-05-06 12:39pm

Albums on iTunes are ten bucks flat.

Hopefully this will get record execs to reduce the price of pre-recorded albums to something inline with what they're actually worth.

My theory on why music piracy is a "big problem" but movie piracy isn't:

There is no experiential difference between playing a downloaded MP3 on my computer and playing a conventional CD on my CD walkman. The musical experience is simply not substantially different between two different recording protocols (Red Book vs. MP3) the way it was different between records/tapes and CDs. CDs were the right product at the right time in the late 80s-early 90s. They were shiny, futuristic and slightly mysterious to the average consumer, and they played back music with greater fidelity than most record or tape players could match.

Movies, on the other hand, have a few unique experiences to them that are difficult to reproduce by playing a movie on your computer. First, the average computer user has a much larger TV than his computer monitor, creating a disincentive to use one's computer as a home movie theater. Second, the home environment has nothing to create a comparison to the movie theater to all but the wealthiest movie aficionados. A huge screen, fresh popcorn and hundreds of other movie fans around you are critical ingredients to the motion-picture experience. This creates an environment where the experience of seeing a movie in a theater is noticeably better than the experience of seeing it on TV at home, and where the experience of seeing a movie on TV is noticeably better than the experience of watching it on your computer.

The problem is that slowness to adopt alternate standards to Red Book (namely, MP2 and its much more popular successor, MP3) left record companies with no flexibility in the late 90s. Their existing recording format left them with little or no dataspace on their music CDs to put in extra features to entice users to choose their products, which were increasingly seen as overpriced for the features they offered. This problem grew worse with the introduction and wide acceptance of DVD in the movie industry. A standard 4.7gb DVD allowed movie companies to not only record an entire 120+ minute movie onto a single disc, but the extra leftover dataspace on the discs allowed them to make extra features, directors'-commentary audio tracks, music soundtracks, exploration features and more.

Meanwhile, the RIAA, as is widely documented, saw MP3 as not a potential new tool but a threat to their hegemony over the music business. The current problems of the RIAA compared to the MPAA stem from the fact that while the MPAA embraced new technology to bring a product of increased value to the movie-buying public, the RIAA attempted to freeze out new technologies that could have given them similar benefits.

And that's my theory on why the RIAA is seen as the "bad guys" while people could really care less about the MPAA.

Zoink · Post by **Zoink** » 2003-05-06 12:59pm

I'm not sure how much you pay in the U.S., but a newly released album here in Canada usually runs me between $15 and $19 CDN ($10.50 to $13.50 US). If I go for special editions or fancy import CD they'll jump to $30 CDN ($21.30) but that's rare and I'm obviously not getting a fancy edition when downloading. I will gladly pay a few extra bucks to get the artist's official CD. I'm only buying perhaps 1 CD per month on average, so its not something I really worry about to much, although I certainly won't complain if prices go down.

phongn · Post by **phongn** » 2003-05-06 01:03pm

The RIAA is now in a standards war for the successor of Red Book CD, namely SACD and DVD-A, but neither really offer enticing features to the consumer, IMHO - most who are satisfied with Red Book Audio. Neither SACD or DVDA are as portable as CDA either.

Iceberg · Post by **Iceberg** » 2003-05-06 01:04pm

New CD releases in the US typically run from $15 (flavor-of-the-week new artist) to $20 (established artist with a loyal fan following) even upwards of $25 for some CDs (special editions and two-disc sets).

So iTunes offers a MINIMUM 33% price cut vs. store prices.

phongn · Post by **phongn** » 2003-05-06 01:05pm

Iceberg wrote:New CD releases in the US typically run from $15 (flavor-of-the-week new artist) to $20 (established artist with a loyal fan following) even upwards of $25 for some CDs (special editions and two-disc sets).

IIRC, royalties tend to run in the $0.50-1.00 range. I'm not sure how much overhead the RIAA has (which is substantial) but they are making a rather large profit.

Iceberg · Post by **Iceberg** » 2003-05-06 01:08pm

phongn wrote:
Iceberg wrote:New CD releases in the US typically run from $15 (flavor-of-the-week new artist) to $20 (established artist with a loyal fan following) even upwards of $25 for some CDs (special editions and two-disc sets).
IIRC, royalties tend to run in the $0.50-1.00 range. I'm not sure how much overhead the RIAA has (which is substantial) but they are making a rather large profit.

The RIAA sells CDs to music stores for $5.00, but they also charge stores a substantial fee for the "privilege" of selling CDs, so the average cost to-stores of CDs is about ten to twelve bucks. So if they sell a CD for much lower than $15, they're not turning a profit after rent and utilities are factored in.

phongn · Post by **phongn** » 2003-05-06 01:12pm

Iceberg wrote:
phongn wrote:
Iceberg wrote:New CD releases in the US typically run from $15 (flavor-of-the-week new artist) to $20 (established artist with a loyal fan following) even upwards of $25 for some CDs (special editions and two-disc sets).
IIRC, royalties tend to run in the $0.50-1.00 range. I'm not sure how much overhead the RIAA has (which is substantial) but they are making a rather large profit.
The RIAA sells CDs to music stores for $5.00, but they also charge stores a substantial fee for the "privilege" of selling CDs, so the average cost to-stores of CDs is about ten to twelve bucks. So if they sell a CD for much lower than $15, they're not turning a profit after rent and utilities are factored in.

Hrm, around $12 is the 'true' wholesale price then. I'm still wondering what the RIAA's actual cost is, because some of this is probably factored into the 'privilege' cost.

EmperorMing · Post by **EmperorMing** » 2003-05-06 10:38pm

phongn wrote:...
Hrm, around $12 is the 'true' wholesale price then. I'm still wondering what the RIAA's actual cost is, because some of this is probably factored into the 'privilege' cost.

Their actual cost is probably very low, considering that the CD media itself is pennies to make...

And a fee for the 'privelege' to sell CD's? That is complete and utter bullshit!!

No wonder CD's cost what they do at a store and why some online vendor will clean house.

GrandMasterTerwynn · Post by **GrandMasterTerwynn** » 2003-05-07 12:08am

Iceberg wrote:New CD releases in the US typically run from $15 (flavor-of-the-week new artist) to $20 (established artist with a loyal fan following) even upwards of $25 for some CDs (special editions and two-disc sets).

So iTunes offers a MINIMUM 33% price cut vs. store prices.

Depends on what state of the union you're in. For example, where I'm at, I can pick up a CD from an established artist for $11.99 - $14.99.

phongn · Post by **phongn** » 2003-05-07 09:51am

EmperorMing wrote:
phongn wrote:...
Hrm, around $12 is the 'true' wholesale price then. I'm still wondering what the RIAA's actual cost is, because some of this is probably factored into the 'privilege' cost.
Their actual cost is probably very low, considering that the CD media itself is pennies to make...

CD media is cheap to press, but what about advertising, marketting, trying to 'make' new bands into superstars? These are non-trivial costs. Certainly they make huge profits, but not that big.

Col. Crackpot · Post by **Col. Crackpot** » 2003-05-07 09:59am

The way i see it, this new way of selling music vastly reduces costs associated with supply chain issues. This is the kind of product that the 'Direct Model' of commerce is perfect for! you no longer need physical media. you no longer need packagaing. you no longer need shipping and handling. you completely eliminate the retailer. do you have any idea how much that reduces costs? jesus hophead christ, why did it take so long for the RIAA to realize this!?

phongn · Post by **phongn** » 2003-05-07 02:04pm

The RIAA is fighting to the death to preseve their current business model. They want to kill or subvert anything that threatens it. More than profits, it's about control, and there's a noticible lack of that via the Internet.

EmperorMing · Post by **EmperorMing** » 2003-05-07 09:58pm

phongn wrote:The RIAA is fighting to the death to preseve their current business model. They want to kill or subvert anything that threatens it. More than profits, it's about control, and there's a noticible lack of that via the Internet.

Exactly. What he said.

EmperorMing · Post by **EmperorMing** » 2003-05-07 10:19pm

BTW, those asshats need to make this compatible with the PC. I don't feel the need to buy a MAC with hte latest OS just for this service.

RedImperator · Post by **RedImperator** » 2003-05-07 10:22pm

This looks more promising than I thought...it could be what the industry needs to pull it out of its death spiral. It will also, of course, be the end of the brick-and-moartar record store, except for speciality shops dealing with vinyl. Then again, nobody weeps for blacksmiths, so I'm hard pressed to say why I should give a shit.