This argument doesn't really stand up though - the cost of a commercially released CD in a shop has very little to do with the cost of a blank disc.
Anyway... when's the last time you bought a CD on domestic release for £15? :slanted:
People were routinely paying that for albums back in the 90s. And the raw materials must have something to do with the cost. I think it generally served to undermine the credibility of the majors arguments that CDs weren't overpriced.
Let them all fucking burn, I'd gladly light Thom up and start the fire with him - Rainbows was the biggest pr scam I've witnessed in a long time. Of course you downloaded it for free for your mum Thom, course you did and 15 years with a major label didn't help at all did it....I can't believe everyone got thrown by such a dummy.
Gabba, it's shops that charge double the price not labels or distributors.
no shops don't charge double, if they did shops certainly wouldn't be closing down!
I'm confused. Are you saying that shops are marking up MORE than 100% or are you saying that the mark-up is far less and the shops aren't making diddly-squat on most releases?no shops don't charge double, if they did shops certainly wouldn't be closing down!
artwork costs
artwork costs
Hah, whenever I see artwork mentioned in cost I laugh because I think of all the IDM and rap I bought at the peak of my CD purchasing with shitty or non-existent cover art!
Not like in my day etc..it was and is a fucking racket.
the markup on cds in this country was always disproportionately high. a good 1/3rd higher than america say. it was and is a fucking racket.
Which is why record retailers are all so damned rich and why more shops are opening up all the time...oh, hang on.
Most things are cheaper in America. I can't speak about the mark-up there, but I do know that when I worked in music retail the mark-up was typically about 40% of the retail price.
Not like in my day etc..
Interesting that in that OMM article Napier-Bell says that the big companies originally got into the music biz as an indulgence and because it was a stupidly lucrative sideline. So of course the foundational attitude to selling 'pop music' has inevitably persisted.
"None of these companies had been set up first and foremost for music; they made records for extra profit. It was a wonderful trick they'd learnt. They bought vinyl cheaply; added a label, a song and a sleeve and sold it expensively."
Since Neumann (lathe manufacturers) closed their doors, and Georg Neumann died a while back, there is apparently one ex-employee left in Europe who knows the machines well enough to repair them, and he basically has a full time job going round cutting rooms all over Europe keeping their machines going. So when he retires... those machines are wonderfully engineered but they can't go on forever.
Maybe there's a training and job opportunity for someone there........
"a shocking drop in the quality of vinyl pressings and mastering (some places are still good but it's harder and harder and more and more expensive.... just cos it's vinyl doesn't mean it's any cop)"
true dat.
many small labels are doing their own mastering, using vst plug ins as a means too saving pounds. some further scrimp by not bothering with test pressings, decreasing their outgoings that little bit more.......
Like who? Mastering and cutting has got cheaper, we pay less for it than we did 5yrs again.