Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

HMV Canada Cuts Music CD Prices

Posted by kdawson on from the signs-of-sanity dept.

umStefa notes a CBC story reporting that the largest music retailer in Canada, HMV, has slashed prices on CDs and is attributing the move to demand by customers for lower prices. The back catalog of popular artists will see price cuts of up to 33%; the cuts average 20% across the board. The Canadian version of the RIAA is spinning the news as being a direct result of music piracy.

15 of 271 comments (clear)

  1. Right... by PunkOfLinux · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Because, as we all know, customers who want CD's at a decent price are OBVIOUSLY pirates...

    --
    Show this to your friends and family that don't know what a real hacker is
    1. Re:Right... by Otter+Escaping+North · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Because, as we all know, customers who want CD's at a decent price are OBVIOUSLY pirates...

      You know - I'm living in Canada, never used p2p or anything like that to download music...don't consider myself a pirate at all. Happy to pay for the materials I want. Upon hearing HMV is slashing prices - I rejoice and head to the website.

      The White Album is still forty-five freakin' dollars!

      Piracy causes lower prices then, does it? I guess I just haven't been doing my part.

      --
      Running Windows^H^H^H^H^H^H^H OSX and Linux in the home. (I don't have time for Solitaire any more.)
    2. Re:Right... by pokerdad · · Score: 5, Insightful

      They are lowering there prices because everybody has caught on that they are really high.

      If only this were true. Once upon a time HMV was a music store that screwed people. Then people stopped buying music there so they started selling DVDs. Just last month they added video games to the mix. I was in an HMV last month, perhaps 25% of the shelf space was for music.

      This cut isn't because HMV has figured out what they were doing wrong, its because they make all their money off of DVDs and games and the few CDs that are left in the store are stealing valuable shelf space. Despite the fact they continue to market themselves as a music store, I think its just a matter of time before the music is gone.

    3. Re:Right... by gemada · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Exactly true. HMV has been by far the most expensive place to buy music in Canada since the 80's. no one buys music there, which is why they switched to selling DVD's and are now probably just lowering the prices on CD's to clear out their stock of anything that isn't Top 10.

  2. Cheaper music? by Gr33nNight · · Score: 5, Insightful

    So in other words, if people keep pirating, then CDs will be cheaper. Sounds like a win-win to me.

  3. Only fair by Borealis · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Piracy is a direct result of unreasonably priced music so I don't think they're going to garner a lot of sympathy.

    --
    Unbreakable toys can be used to break other toys.
  4. CD Prices and Slothful Government by Stanistani · · Score: 5, Insightful

    So when will CD prices dip below DVD prices?

    Also, from TFA:
    "A succession of Canadian governments have sat on their hands and done nothing," he said.

    Excellent. That's the best kind of government. The type that doesn't make laws just to please some industry group.

    --
    You can't talk about Wikipedia's flaws on Wikipedia
    1. Re:CD Prices and Slothful Government by kebes · · Score: 5, Insightful

      because the cost of movie production involves orders of magnitude more people and money that of an album?
      This is probably obvious to most of us, but it bears repeating:

      The fact that a CD and a DVD cost the same amount, even though the production costs are orders-of-magnitude different, means that:
      (1) A CD album sells far fewer copies than a DVD of a movie does. Thus, the price needs to be higher to recoup costs; or
      (2) The price we pay is not really correlated to the production cost. In particular, the claims that the cost of a CD is required to pay all the people involved in the production of the work is greatly exaggerated.

      We all know that a merchant feels no particular desire to sell something at a lower cost if people are buying it at a higher cost. In that sense, the cost of goods is never correlated to the production cost, but only based upon the price the market is willing to bear.

      On the other hand, in any sector of the economy where there is competition the price of a good on the free market will be driven down closer to the production cost, because one company will always be willing to undercut another company, right up until the point where they can no longer pay for production (and staff, and reasonable return-on-investment, etc.). However, where there is no competition, the price can be inflated arbitrarily high above the production cost.

      Again, it's pretty obvious, but I'll say it anyways: The high price of CDs and DVDs is because the market is dominated by a monopoly, devoid of competition.
  5. Well, this shows SOMEBODY gets it by CellBlock · · Score: 3, Insightful

    At least things work as they should somewhere. It finally dawned on them that "Hey, people don't always steal music, and when it's cheaper, they buy more."

    It's quite sad that this has to be such a stunning revelation, actually.

  6. Capitalism by SighKoPath · · Score: 3, Insightful
    FTA:

    Other countries, including the U.S. and Britain, have been able to stem the tide of illegal downloading by updating laws and increasing enforcement, he said, but calls from the recording industry for updated copyright laws in Canada have gone unheeded.

    "A succession of Canadian governments have sat on their hands and done nothing," he said.
    This is one of the few times I wish the US could be more like Canada. Capitalism? Competition? Free market economy? What's that?
  7. Rising Dollar by doconnor · · Score: 4, Insightful

    It is probably not the result of piracy but the result of the rising Canadian dollar (or the falling US dollar), meaning that the Canadian dollar is nearly at par with the US dollar, so people expect the prices to be nearly the same.

  8. Prices were unreasonable by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    This also just helps bring Canadian prices in line with American prices for the same products. We have always been getting ripped off and over the last year as the Canadain dollar has risen the prices have become more and more unreasonable.

  9. Re: "More like Canada" by Dystopian+Rebel · · Score: 4, Insightful

    This is one of the few times I wish the US could be more like Canada.


    Yeah, I would never want to change the poverty and disastrous education system, the lack of health insurance for most people, the broken two-party political system, the prison system with highest rate of incarceration in the world, military profiteering and the $34 TRILLION debt load...

    But it sure would be great if CDs cost less in the USA.
    --
    Rich And Stupid is not so bad as Working For Rich And Stupid.
  10. Actually in Canada downloading music is not piracy by hung_himself · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Just a reminder to our American readers, it is legal to share and download music in Canada and it is not piracy. This is a result of a the Canadian version of the RIAA's successful past pressuring of the government resulting in the imposition of a blank media tax. The proceeds are supposed go to the artists to compensate for loss revenues from sharing of music. As I understand it, the courts have deemed that sharing music via the internet is no different than copying a CD and giving it to a friend. Therefore since the record companies already accepted the tax as fair compensation for music sharing - they cannot ask for more. Someone more informed than I can provide the links and clarify the details but we download music here without worry.

    But I don't.

    I used to be a real record CD hound spending hours combing through the stacks. I used to go to big name concerts regularly. I no longer buy CDs (last I bought was over 10 years ago - some medieval music and some worldbeat) and when we go out it's to listen to small local pub bands, small chamber ensembles or choirs or dance to electronic music DJs. And I'm more likely to play music or sing karaoke than listen to it. A large part of this is just disillusionment with the entire big business music model. Spending a couple of hundred bucks to see Madonna or go to the Opera or listen to a warhorse symphony *again*, doesn't seem to make much sense when there are so many more enjoyable alternative musical experiences.

  11. Re:Crazy Canada by Dixie_Flatline · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Actually, we're consistently ripped off. Right now, we're being told that despite the fact that the Canadian dollar trades at between $0.93USD - $0.96USD, prices for goods are still high because inventory was bought when the dollar was low. It's complete BS. High price electronics, for instance, are still several hundred dollars more than in the US. (The only reason I know this is because a friend of mine is aghast that a TV that he wants is almost $800 cheaper in the states. And he can't buy it there and have it imported; nobody will sell to a shipping company. After tax and shipping, the TV is still cheaper, but it's not worth the time anymore. :P)

    Prices should have come down a long time ago. These are not the days of the $0.65 Canadian dollar anymore.