Slashdot Mirror
How Much Does it Cost to Produce a Recording?
An anonymous reader writes "How much does the average new album cost to produce? I have seen this cost estimated between $500,000 and $1,000,000, but some quick figuring does not support a cost this high. According to various sources (Ok, Slashdot stories...), somewhere around 27,000 albums are produced each year and 906.6 million albums are shipped. I would guess that the album retail (about $15 per album) is based on a 100% markup, so that these 906.6 million albums are sold at wholesale for about $7.50 apiece, which means that the revenue from wholesale sales is about $6.8 billion. This means that the actual production cost has to be less than $250,000 per album, otherwise the record industry is losing money. I have left out the cost of actually printing and copying the albums as I think that the average cost is probably less than $0.25 per copy."
50 CDs - $12.00
Audio Editing Software - $249
Studio costs - However much you pay for your rent
Total: ~$500'000
Those maths skills sure come in handy!
Since when did Slashdot start posting stories that aren't based on any specific figures in any way whatsoever? I've never seen such a blatant disregard for quoting specific statistics in my life.
... "I would guess the album retail is based on a 100% markup..." ... "albums are sold at wholesale for about $7.50 apiece"... "revenue from wholesale sales is about $6.8 billion"..."This means that the actual production cost has to be less than $250,000 per album, otherwise the record industry is losing money." ... "I think that the average cost is probably less than $0.25 per copy."
"Around 27000 albums are produced"
Could this post be any more vague?
Hell, throw in a guess that the second gunman was 'somewhere on the grassy knoll' and you've got yourself an oversight committee.